Famous Texas bats to be displaced by new highway project
A highly anticipated Texas highway expansion might mean trouble for one of the state's most iconic creatures . Thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats under Austin's Interstate 35 will be displaced as the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) expands the infamously congested highway, according to a report from KUT . Last week, TxDOT broke ground on the multibillion dollar I-35 Capital Express project adding lanes in each direction from State Highway 45 to U.S. Highway 290. Part of the work involves demolishing I-35 bridges at Wells Branch Parkway and Howard Lane, which together account for more than 100,000 bats.
The northbound bridge of Wells Branch Parkway was demolished in September, followed by the northbound bridge of Howard Lane bridge last week. The southbound bridges will reportedly remain open until the demolished crossing are built, according to KUT. Prior to demolishing bridges, TxDOT evicts bats through exclusion , a process involving using expanding foam to seal crevices under the bridge where bats roost once they leave for the night. However, some conservationists are not fans of the method due to the risk of bats getting sealed in too.
"We don't like that they're using spray foam, but apparently that's the method of choice," Lee Mackenzie of Austin Bat Refuge, told KUT, adding it should be safe as long as it's not used near bats and crevices are vacant. "We feel certain that they're doing their very best to get this done in a way that's going to protect the bats as much as possible."
New larger bridges will replace the old ones, allowing the bats to eventually return, according to TxDOT. In the meantime, the state governement agency has installed three dozen artificial roosts known as "bat boxes" under a portion of the highway over Walnut Creek to make up for the lost habitat. More of the boxes will be installed under an I-35 pedestrian bridge planned over Lady Bird Lake and the highway's northbound frontage road at Onion Creek.
Still, TxDOT officials admit it will take time for the bats to find their new accommodations. It can take a few months to a couple of years for bats to move in, and even then, it does not guarantee that bats will roost, according to Bat Conservation International. Many of the bat boxes were installed over the summer. Mackenzie told KUT the boxes aren't "the most ideal habitat" and enough can't be built to accommodate for the large number of bats at the bridges.
More of the bats will need to be moved in the future due to the planned demolition of the I-35 bridge over McNeil Road. A project to widen I-35 from SH 45 North to RM 1431 slated for 2028 includes reconstructing the McNeil Road bridge.
Austin boasts the largest urban bat colony in the world, with more than 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats roosting under Congress Avenue Bridge. Bats began roosting there in the early 1980s following the bridge's renovation. Today, the bats have become a popular tourist attraction.
