Colorado finishes "North America's largest" wildlife overpass

• For decades, the freeway sliced through their routes, raising the risk of collisions between wildlife and fast-moving automobiles. Now, state transportation director Shoshana Lew estimates the new system will cut wildlife-vehicle crashes by 90%.

By the numbers: At 209 feet long and 200 feet wide, the overpass spans six lanes of interstate traffic and covers nearly an acre between Larkspur and Monument.

• The $15 million project, largely funded through a federal grant, was delivered on time and on budget, according to state officials.

What they're saying: In a statement Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis called it "a momentous feat" for expanding safe travel for humans and wildlife while "protecting critical habitat… for generations to come."

The intrigue: Not long ago, officials were touting the pathway as the "world's largest" wildlife overpass, but that superlative has since been quietly revised.

• The project is now billed as "North America's biggest" — though transportation leaders still insist it ranks among the largest anywhere.

• Colorado transportation spokesperson Tamara Rollison told Axios Denver that India "most likely" claims the global title after completing its own wildlife overpass at the end of July.

The big picture: The Greenland overpass is a marquee piece of a statewide push to stitch back landscapes long severed by development.

• By reconnecting tens of thousands of acres in Douglas County to more than 1 million acres of the Pike National Forest, the project aims to give wildlife a safer path through a corridor that's been fragmented for decades.