Construction has started on a wildlife bridge over the Trans-Canada Highway where dozens of elk have been killed by vehicles driving through Alberta’s mountains.

Alberta Transportation said the overpass, the first in the province to be built outside a national park, will be located east of Canmore, Alta., and will cost about $17.5 million.

“This overpass will drastically reduce the chances of vehicle-wildlife collisions,” Transportation Minister Rajan Sawhney said at a news conference Thursday.

There will also be 12 kilometres of fencing along both sides of the highway.

Seven elk were killed in a collision with a transport truck in April 2019 — the third time that year the RCMP reported multiple elk had been killed in collisions on the busy highway.

Miranda Rosin, member of the legislature for Banff-Kananaskis, said the collision prompted a conversation about the need for change.

“We were fortunate that day to have no human lives lost,” she said. “We must still remember that every life lost on that highway is felt in our community and that day it included the lives of those seven elk.”

Rosin said wildlife-vehicle collisions are common in the area.

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