Vegetarian, Vegan and Animal Rights

usonian

(17,999 posts) Sun Jun 1, 2025, 11:39 AM Sunday

The World's Largest Wildlife Crossing Is Almost Ready To Help Animals Cross Ten Lanes Of The 101 Freeway

https://www.jalopnik.com/1872988/worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing-101-freeway/

screenshot of video.

The Los Angeles region is famous for its car culture; we have famously poor public transit, famously congested roads, and famously beautiful roads filled with famously beautiful people driving famously beautiful cars. Prior to its colonization, though, the region was naturally beautiful, peppered with Indigenous tribes who coexisted with the various native flora and fauna in one of the largest and most significant examples of Mediterranean-type ecosystems in the world, the Santa Monica Mountains. Once all that native beauty was sufficiently steamrolled and paved over, the region's fragile ecosystem and endangered wildlife faced and continues to face habitat shrinkage and habitat loss, even genetic isolation. Recently, workers began laying the first of the 6,000 cubic yards of specially manufactured soil on the crossing and will soon begin seeding the soil and planting native shrubs and perennials including golden yarrow, California poppies, giant wildrye, and Santa Barbara milk vetch to recreate the native habitat and support other endangered species like the Palos Verdes blue butterfly.

Three years ago on Earth Day in 2022, the region began taking steps to restore these habitats by starting construction on the largest wildlife crossing in the world, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills. The wildlife crossing will allow animals to cross over one of the busiest roadways in the world that sees around 300,000 travelers daily, and connect the Santa Susana Mountains, Simi Hills, and the Santa Monica Mountains. The project was delayed by about a year due to heavy rains in 2022 and 2023, and is now slated for completion toward the end of 2026.

The wildlife crossing is located along U.S. Route 101 at the Liberty Canyon Road exit in Agoura Hills, and once completed the main structure of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be about the size of a football field, or 10-to-12 acres in total. It spans across eight lanes of traffic and two breakdown lanes on the 101 Freeway, as well as a second section that will pass over the two lanes of Agoura Road. The location was determined for many reasons, including a 1987 study which identified the stretch between Agoura Hills and Hidden Hills as one of three key choke points for safe animal passageways.

Phase 2 of the project is set to begin soon, and will include a temporary closure of Agoura Road so the roadway can be covered with a tunnel and soil collected from the Malibu Lake area. The entire crossing is projected to be completed toward the end of 2026, with the goal of reconnecting the entire ecosystem for both flora and fauna to solve for genetic isolation and prevent the extinction of a mountain lion population. You can follow along with progress and see real-time webcam feeds on the 101 Wildlife Crossing website.

Read More: https://www.jalopnik.com/1872988/worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing-101-freeway/

And even more:
https://101wildlifecrossing.org

I was wondering how animals are going to ascend to that height over the highway shoulder. The screenshot below (probably an artist's conception) shows how. It's way more finished than the current work. Looks like lots and lots of fill to be done. Taken from the 101wildlifecrossing.org website.