Research overview: the Trans-Canada Highway long-term crossing dataset

The wildlife crossings along the Trans-Canada Highway through Banff National Park constitute one of the longest-running, most comprehensively monitored road-mitigation programs in the world, and this overview synthesizes the insights that decades of data have yielded. Continuous monitoring of dozens of underpasses and overpasses has revealed species-specific preferences, the years some animals need to adopt new structures, and genetic evidence that crossings restore gene flow across the highway. The overview discusses how this long time series uniquely shows the maturation of crossing use and the demographic and genetic benefits that short studies cannot capture. The Banff dataset has shaped global best practices for crossing design and monitoring. It stands as the empirical benchmark against which other road-ecology projects, including those for felids, are measured.