A major highway project was celebrated in Polk County Wednesday, as Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new interchange at I-4 and County Road 557.
With Polk County one of the fastest growing regions in the country, the interchange is meant to ease traffic congestion on that stretch of highway.
“This project is a great example of how we can bring congestion relief and show the rest of the world, show the nation,” said FDOT Secretary Jared Perdue.
Environmentalists say it will also positively impact more than just drivers. A wildlife underpass was included in the design, connecting conservation lands on either side of I-4 for the first time in 50 years.
The F-Stop Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on wildlife conservation, uses cameras to monitor the underpass and hopes it will allow for the return of the Florida black bear and even the endangered panther to the region. F-Stop has more than 150 cameras around the state.
Video from the organization’s other locations across Florida shows just how successful the wildlife crossings can be, capturing images of migrating black bears and even endangered panthers, a population that has dwindled down to less than 240 statewide.
For conservationists like F-Stop’s chief content creator Max Freund, it’s the potential use of the wildlife underpass that could have the most meaningful impact.
“When we check the cameras, its excitement,” said Freund. “We never know what we are going to get.”