The Los Angeles area is known for its automobile tradition; we’ve got famously poor public transitfamously congested roads, and famously stunning roads crammed with famously stunning folks driving famously stunning automobiles. Previous to its colonization, although, the area was naturally stunning, peppered with Indigenous tribes who coexisted with the varied native wildlife in one of many largest and most vital examples of Mediterranean-type ecosystems on this planet, the Santa Monica Mountains. As soon as all that native magnificence was sufficiently steamrolled and paved over, the area’s fragile ecosystem and endangered wildlife confronted and continues to face habitat shrinkage and habitat loss, even genetic isolation. Just lately, staff started laying the primary of the 6,000 cubic yards of specifically manufactured soil on the crossing and can quickly start seeding the soil and planting native shrubs and perennials together with golden yarrow, California poppies, big wildrye, and Santa Barbara milk vetch to recreate the native habitat and help different endangered species just like the Palos Verdes blue butterfly.
Three years in the past on Earth Day in 2022, the area started taking steps to revive these habitats by beginning building on the most important wildlife crossing on this planet, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills. The wildlife crossing will enable animals to cross over one of many busiest roadways on this planet that sees round 300,000 vacationers day by day, and join the Santa Susana Mountains, Simi Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains. The challenge was delayed by a couple of 12 months as a consequence of heavy rains in 2022 and 2023, and is now slated for completion towards the top of 2026.
It is massive
The wildlife crossing is situated alongside U.S. Route 101 on the Liberty Canyon Street exit in Agoura Hills, and as soon as accomplished the primary construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing shall be concerning the dimension of a soccer subject, or 10-to-12 acres in whole. It spans throughout eight lanes of visitors and two breakdown lanes on the 101 Freeway, in addition to a second part that may move over the 2 lanes of Agoura Street. The situation was decided for a lot of causes, together with a 1987 examine which recognized the stretch between Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills as considered one of three key choke factors for secure animal passageways.
Section 2 of the challenge is about to start quickly, and can embrace a short lived closure of Agoura Street so the roadway will be lined with a tunnel and soil collected from the Malibu Lake space. The whole crossing is projected to be accomplished towards the top of 2026, with the aim of reconnecting the whole ecosystem for each wildlife to resolve for genetic isolation and forestall the extinction of a mountain lion inhabitants. You possibly can comply with together with progress and see real-time webcam feeds on the 101 Wildlife Crossing web site.
Why is Caltrans spending $94 million on a wildlife bridge?
The Santa Monica Mountains are considered one of two biodiversity hotspots within the continental U.S. which are dwelling to over 1,000 plant species in 26 distinct pure communities. Native species embrace bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, 400 species of birds, and 35 species of reptiles and amphibians. The area can be dwelling to greater than 50 endangered or threatened species of vegetation and animals, which is among the many highest concentrations of uncommon species within the U.S.
The world had a love affair with the late mountain lion referred to as P-22, who was the primary mountain lion to be sighted in Griffith Park in a few years, and solely made it there by miraculously crossing two of the busiest freeways within the nation. P-22 is the face of the #SaveLACougars marketing campaign, which regardless of the varied meanings of the identify focuses solely on mountain lions, and is credited with fueling a brand new conservation motion. P-22 gained followers throughout the globe, and his story was featured in The New Yorker, Wall Avenue Journal, Los Angeles Occasions, Nationwide GeographicBBC World Information, and several other extra shops earlier than he was hit by a automobile and euthanized as a consequence of head trauma in late 2022.
