Wildlife Crossing Project Gets Green Light For SoCal
Last week I atttended the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Project’s Media Summit in Seattle, so I’m planning several future California Sportsman stories, including one topic that was discussed was wildlife migration corridors and highway crossings. Fascinating panel discussion.
The timing was certainly right for other news to break: a proposed massive wildlife crossing that was planned for a busy section of Southern California freeway roads will reportedly be constructed.
Officials will build a wildlife crossing over a major Southern California highway. It will give big cats, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other creatures a safe route to open space and better access to food and potential mates. https://t.co/lKvZ4mOnGj
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) August 21, 2019
Here’s CBS L.A. with more:
The span along U.S. 101 will only be the second animal overpass in a state where tunnels are more common. Officials say it will be the first of its kind near a major metropolis and the largest in the world, stretching 200 feet (61 meters) above 10 lanes of busy highway and a feeder road just 35 miles (56 kilometers) northwest of downtown LA.
“When the freeway went in, it cut off an ecosystem. We’re just now seeing impacts of that,” Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation told The Associated Press. …
The $87 million bridge last month entered its final design phase. It’s on track for groundbreaking within two years and completion by 2023, according to engineer Sheik Moinuddin, project manager with the California Department of Transportation. Construction will take place mostly at night and won’t require any lengthy shutdowns of the 101 freeway, officials said.
