Groundbreaking Announced for Wildlife Bridge Over 101 Freeway

Caltrans has announced a prospective construction start of January 2022 for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills, CA. Experts say that the bridge over the 101 freeway is crucial to saving area mountain lions from certain extinction.

Conservationists who have been proposing the bridge for years have finally gotten their wish; that of having a throughway for safe passage of mountain lions and various other species across the busy highway. The bridge will span eight lanes of the 101 freeway that is used by an estimated 300,000 thousand vehicles a day.

“This is an unprecedented project that Los Angeles should be incredibly proud of,” said Beth Pratt, a spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation. Pratt who has been working on the project for almost a decade added, “Back then it was just an idea.”

At 200-feet-long and 165-feet-wide, the bridge will be the largest wildlife bridge in the world officials said. The design of the bridge will emulate a natural landscape and will have sound walls and light deflection systems to protect the animals from the vehicular commotion below.

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