A bridge is taking shape over one of the world's busiest freeways. But it's meant to carry wildlife over Highway 101, not vehicles.
The world’s largest wildlife crossing is under construction in Agoura Hills. When complete, it will allow everything from lizards to mountain lions to safely cross the freeway.
After more than a decade of planning and four years of construction, it will be ready to open on December 2.
"It was a pretty emotional moment," admitted Beth Pratt, who spearheaded the effort to build the bridge. She’s the Regional Executive Director for the National Wildlife Federation.
"I didn't expect to get as emotional in announcing the date. There's the little girl in me that wanted to help wildlife. There's decades of work from all the partners like the National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Caltrans, and this global outpouring of support that we've always had for this project."
The $114 million project is a joint public and government-funded effort, with late philanthropist Wallis Annenberg contributing $35 million. More than 5,000 groups and individuals also made donations.
A mountain lion named P-22, which became famous after being photographed near the Hollywood sign, became the symbol of the effort. But according to Pratt, the 170-foot-wide crossing, which is being landscaped like native habitat, is intended to give all kinds of wildlife safe passage over the 101.
"P-22 really showed people the science, and showed people what it was like to be a wild animal living in these fragmented landscapes," Pratt explained. "The National Park Service researchers showed the mountain lions are eminently at risk of extinction if we didn't do something. But, we also need to reconnect this (the wildlife areas) for all wildlife."
Biologists are elated over the project. The National Park Service’s Seth Riley has been studying mountain lions in the region for three decades. The freeway has been reducing the genetic diversity of the big cats. Because they can’t cross safely from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Simi Hills, inbreeding has occurred, which is threatening the existence of the mountain lions.
"The good news is we still have an amazing population of mountain lions," said Riley. "It's not big enough, but it's doing well in the Santa Monica Mountains, still reproducing. It won't be too late. There's still enough genetic diversity on this side, and on the other side of the 101. We've actually seen from some modeling that it doesn't take a huge amount of animals moving across to make a huge difference genetically."
It’s expected that other wildlife will join mountain lions in using the safe freeway crossing.
National Park Service Biologist Jeff Sikich said in addition to a network of video cameras, researchers will use GPS tracking collars to advance research on the wildlife.
"We've been doing long-term mountain lion research since 2002, and we'll continue to do that, and radio collar mountain lions in the area," said Sikich. "Post construction, we're also going to radio collar four other species, not only mountain lions, but bobcats, coyotes, deer, and fox on both sides of the freeway, so we can get some real detailed movement data."
Area residents are excited that the project is almost done. They’ve had to live with detours and noise, but many think it's worth it for such an important environmental effort.
"It is so incredibly special and impactful to have the area I grew up in on the world stage for such a positive thing," said Agoura Hills Mayor Jeremy Wolf, who grew up in Liberty Canyon. His parents still live there.
The overpass is complete, and now crews are working on building structures to connect it to the hills on the north and south sides of the freeway. The connectors will be landscaped with native plants, so the entire crossing will feel like a natural habitat to the wildlife.
"A lot of people don't realize the complexity of the project, because you only see one piece of it, explained Pratt. "We have to move enough soil to fill between the crossing and the landscape that it would fill half of SoFi Stadium (in Inglewood)," said Pratt.
She added that while it will be a little more than seven months before wildlife can actually walk across the crossing, some of nature’s creatures are already finding it.
"I've counted six species of butterflies and eight species of birds. They're already responding to this incredible habitat that we've designed. If the little stuff is using it, once it's connected, the coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions won't be far off."
While you won’t be able to walk across the crossing because that's reserved for the wildlife, you’ll be able to watch it. There are plans for a network of cameras you’ll be able to see online to watch animal crossings.
There will also be viewing platforms on both sides of the 101, so people can learn more about the groundbreaking environmental project.
