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Major Grant Sets Stage For One Of A Kind Wildlife Crossing Over Highway 101

National Park Service
The proposed wildlife crossing over Highway 101, near Liberty Canyon in the Conejo Valley, for animals like mountain lions has received an additional $20 million in funding.

Mountain lions, coyotes, deer and other animals would have their own express lane over the 101 freeway.

A Conejo Valley project to build what would be the largest wildlife freeway overcrossing in the world just received a $20 million grant.

The additional funding sets the stage for work on the overpass over Highway 101 to start as soon as this year.

It’s a unique effort to help mountain lions and other wildlife cross what has become a dangerous barrier between parts of their habitat. The crossing would span ten lanes of Highway 101 at Liberty Canyon, over the southbound 101 near Agoura Hills.

It would allow wildlife to safely move from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Simi Hills.

The overpass will look and feel like an extension of the area’s natural habitat with soil, plants and even trees.

The National Wildlife Federation is leading the effort, which is a combination of government funding, donations, and grants.

The State Wildlife Conservation Board initially approved close to $5 million for the project. But, the Board just added another $20 million in funding to the effort. More than $70 million has now been committed to the estimated $87 million project.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.