NB Grits want highway fences to contain loose moose

FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s opposition Liberals want the provincial government to erect more fencing along highways to reduce the number of vehicle collisions with wandering moose.

Liberal Donald Arsenault said the fencing is needed in the northern part of the province in particular, Canadian Press reports. He said a section of electric fence installed in the Belledune area in 2000 has been very successful in reducing vehicle-wildlife collisions.

Look Both Ways Before Crossing the Street: NB politician says
more electrical fencing would cut moose-vehicle accidents

Transportation Minister Paul Robichaud said the trial of the fence in Belledune is being extended, and that he would look at other options as well. He said new warning signs and brush-cutting have reduced the number of accidents along Highway 7 between Fredericton and Saint John.

However, the minister said it’s not economically feasible to fence off most highways in the province.

June is when moose season begins in New Brunswick. Collisions with moose in that province claim the lives of drivers and passengers almost every year, with an annual average of 250 accidents — most of which accidents occur during the summer months between now and October.

Wildlife-vehicle collisions have increased across Canada, with incidents in Alberta and Ontario almost doubling since the early ’90s.

Some fleets that haul on roads where wildlife likes to hang out have experimented with various technologies to cut down on truck-animal crashes.

The Bendix Xvision, for example, is a heat-sensitive camera that lets drivers “see” images five times farther away than the naked eye. Another high-tech option is the Eaton Vorad Collision Warning System, which uses radar to scan the terrain ahead of and beside a truck to warn drivers of unusual surfaces or potential objects.

— with files from Canadian Press