LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It's not uncommon to see dead animals on the side of Kentucky's busy highways and interstates. Now officials are working to prevent the state's animals from becoming road kill. 

Every year motorists on Kentucky roads are involved in 3,000 to 4,000 collisions with wildlife. Officials said a particular section along Interstate I-64 has logged some of the worst encounters. 

Joe McDermott, the deer program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, said there are an average of 25 deer per square mile in Kentucky. However, the deer population is significantly higher in counties along I-64.

Jefferson County is estimated to have 30 deer per square mile. Shelby County comes in at 58 deer per square mile. There are approximately 61 deer per square mile in Franklin County.

"We're almost double the state-wide average in these counties," McDermott said. "So, there's a lot of deer."

In Jefferson, Shelby and Franklin counties, the deer population is thick, thanks to a rural, wooded habitat.

"A lot of it is pretty wooded," McDermott said. "They have some open, mowed areas along the sides of the road to improve visibility and whatnot, but you still have a lot of wooded, open areas that are easy for deer to jump back and forth between."

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife is working with the Transportation Cabinet in an attempt to keep drivers and animals safe.

The state recently was awarded a $1.2 million grant to study where high traffic areas intersect with wildlife migration routes. In 2022, more than 3,000 deer collisions were reported across Kentucky, but McDermott believes that number is even higher. 

"I would wager total collisions are probably, at least twice what we report," McDermott said. 

The study will focus on I-64 between Louisville and Frankfort and help develop a plan to explore possible solutions to reduce the number of wildlife and vehicle collisions.

"They might develop an underpass where they can go through it easy, or they'll do an overpass -- which is basically a bridge that's got vegetation on it and fencing across the highway," McDermott said. 

And though peak season for collisions with wildlife is winding down, officials offer advice when encountering deer in a roadway.

"We say 'Slow for deer, don't veer,' to try to get people to reduce their speeds and reduce those accidents," McDermott said. 

The study is expected to start this summer.