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Start of work set for world's largest wildlife highway crossing, which will be in the Conejo Valley

An aerial rendering of the planned Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in the Liberty Canyon area.
Living Habitats
/
National Wildlife Federation
An aerial rendering of the planned Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in the Liberty Canyon area.

April 22 groundbreaking announced for Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which will allow wildlife to safely cross ten lanes of Highway 101.

It’s an idea to help wildlife in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties that’s been talked about for years. Now, there’s word on a project to build the world’s largest wildlife crossing over Highway 101 in the Conejo Valley will start in April.

The plan started from efforts to prevent the deaths of mountain lions. The big cats living in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation have been dying at an alarming rate, hit by vehicles as they try to cross highways to reach different parts of their native habitat.

It sparked a plan to build a wildlife crossing over Highway 101, near Liberty Canyon in the Agoura Hills area.

The roughly $90 million project would cross ten lanes of freeway, which carry about 300,000 vehicles a day.

The National Wildlife Federation spearheaded the fundraising effort. Now, officials have announced that they will break ground on the 200 foot-long, 165 foot-wide crossing April 22, which is Earth Day.

The crossing will be covered with soil and plants. It will create a natural looking bridge for mountain lions, deer, and other wildlife to safely cross between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills.

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.