Living Habitats and National Wildlife Federation
So a few days ago, I read online that Highway 101 near the city of Agoura Hills (here in Southern California's Conejo Valley ) will be closed on weekdays from midnight to at least 5 AM starting next month.
Why, you ask? Because the next phase of construction will soon begin on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing...a vegetated bridge being built for animals that dwell in the Simi Hills and Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County!
This Blog entry will be pretty lengthy if I delved into the whole story behind why this wildlife crossing is being assembled (you can read about the history of the project here), but I just want to point out that I am pretty stoked that this bridge—which I first learned about on the Web a few years ago—is finally becoming a reality.
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be the largest bridge of its kind in the world (you can see photos of other countries' wildlife crossings in this fascinating article)...and that's not a surprise given the size of Highway 101 (which is 10 car-lanes-wide when you account for the northbound and southbound sides of the freeway), and the number of animal species that struggle to cross it to find mates (of genetic diversity, that is), food or a new habitat to dwell in everyday.
Mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, deer and fence lizards—among other creatures—will take advantage of this bridge once it's finished. And that's great news!
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the government agency responsible for this project, has already assembled the three vertical rows of pylons (shown below) that the bridge will rest on above Highway 101. And next month, the horizontal girders that comprise the bridge itself will begin being placed atop these pylons in the middle of the night.
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing began construction by Caltrans in spring of 2022, and the bridge should be completed by early 2026. Very exciting!
RCDSMM
Caltrans
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