There are alternatives to roads for moving people and cargo. Railroads, for one. If we really wanted to minimize ecological disruption without shutting down the

There are alternatives to roads for moving people and cargo. Railroads, for one. If we really wanted to minimize ecological disruption without shutting down the logistics network of the economy (taking the economy with it), we would build elevated rails across the landscape. Wildlife could safely traverse underneath them so there’d be a lot less interruption of territories and trails. The downside is cost. A more modest solution is wildlife tunnels and bridges [1]. These aren’t nearly as expensive as elevating a railroad for many miles, but they do allow wildlife to safely cross in some places. They help to reduce habitat fragmentation which is a huge challenge for migratory species and those with large territories. They don’t much for pollution, however. Electric cars might help with that somewhat, but the local issue around roads is pollution from tire and road wear, salt/de-icing, debris, litter, and runoff. All of these local pollution sources won’t be alleviated and some (tire/road wear) are exacerbated by EVs due the dramatic weight increase. Elevated rails would be amazing though. They could accommodate very high speed trains, allowing an even faster transportation network, while also cutting down on all of the issues listed above. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_crossing?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_crossing?wprov=sfti1