GRAND RAPIDS — Years of volunteer-collected data have led to the installation of a new wildlife crossing designed to protect freshwater turtles from vehicle collisions along a busy stretch of highway in Barry County.
The project, spearheaded by the John Ball Zoo, Grand Valley State University, and regional partners, transformed community science into physical infrastructure.
Constructed along state route M-43, the crossing features a 6-by-7-foot box culvert and fencing spanning several hundred feet to guide turtles safely beneath the road. A second culvert was also installed specifically for wildlife movement, separate from local water-management infrastructure.
The intervention targets one of the primary threats to North American freshwater turtles: road mortality. Launched in 2023 through the zoo’s Great Lakes Rare Turtle Program, the research initiative relies on volunteers to document turtle deaths across western and southwestern Michigan…