Pollinator Initiative

Why does the PA Turnpike have a Pollinator Habitat Initiative?

Pennsylvania is one of the top-five states in the nation in terms of public road miles (over 121,000 miles) in addition to the more than 100,000 acres of roadside land managed statewide. By developing pollinator plantings along roadsides, this initiative will provide habitat, food, egg laying, and travel corridors to larger habitats. By placing emphasis on a pollinator initiative, the PA Turnpike can showcase the importance of vegetation within Turnpike property to further enhance important species which may also use it as a transportation network.

Pollinator plantings also help farmers significantly. For example, in Dauphin County, 25% of PA Turnpike property is adjacent to farmland. Having pollinator habitat adjacent to this farmland can increase agriculture production and save farmers money in pesticide costs.

PennDOT currently has a Pollinator Habitat Plan with the goal of developing a pollinator corridor and is interested in coordinating with the PA Turnpike to share results of pilot sites, lessons learned, methods, and overcoming obstacles, since the Turnpike may intersect many of those areas along the corridor. Additionally, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed guidance and provided PennDOT, adjacent State DOTs, tolling authorities, and other non-profits with guidelines to re-establish pollinator habitat.

Pollinator Habitat Pilot Project Plots

Early stages of the PA Turnpike Pollinator Initiative feature small-scale tests to gather research, monitor success, and better direct the future of the project – also known as “pilot projects.” These pilot projects are located within existing PA Turnpike property to test a variety of different seed mixes, application rates, management techniques and site conditions (soil conditions, shading, wetness, grading changes, etc.).

The pilot projects include four phases:

Where are the Pollinator Plots?

Through a robust, multi-departmental evaluation process, the PA Turnpike identified over 40 locations for potential pilot plots along existing PA Turnpike property. Most sites identified were PA Turnpike-owned buildings, Turnpike interchanges and service plazas.

Through additional analysis, the first seven pilot sites were selected and include locations from all regions across eastern, central, and western Pennsylvania:

A major benefit of conducting pilot projects is that, while the pilots are in progress, the PA Turnpike can begin developing Systemwide Pollinator Guidance and Specifications, which would then be shaped by the final pilot results.

PA Turnpike Systemwide Pollinator Guidance and Specifications key areas of focus include:

• Cost effectiveness
• Identifying highest rate of success based on lessons learned
• Examining how the PA Turnpike can benefit the environment beyond standard practices

While these pilot projects will generate a tremendous amount of data to guide the development of project specifications, it is important to keep in mind that this process takes time; it typically can take between two to three growing seasons for sites to become established.