Caltrans proposes wildlife overpass on 101 Freeway
A rendering of the proposed wildlife overpass above the 101 Freeway near Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills.
(Resource Conservation District)
Mountain lions, bobcats and other wildlife would have less chance of becoming roadkill if the state adopts a plan to build a landscaped bridge over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, supporters of the proposal said Wednesday.
State agencies, elected officials and wildlife advocates urged the state to provide the much-needed link in an area where rampant development and highways have fragmented once-continuous habitat. The 165-foot-wide, 200-foot-long overpass near Liberty Canyon Road would connect the Santa Monica Mountains on the south with the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains.
Large carnivores in particular have found the 101 to be a formidable barrier. Since National Park Service biologists began researching mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains in 2002, motorists have struck and killed a dozen of the big cats in the study area, including a male puma hit on the 101 near Liberty Canyon two years ago.
Urbanization has taken a toll on Southern Californias mountain lion population, spurring battles over shrinking territory and a depletion of genetic diversity because of inbreeding.
Building the nations largest wildlife overpass would be ambitious, said Seth Riley, a wildlife ecologist with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. At the proposed site, the highway has 10 lanes of pavement, including exit lanes.
I dont know anywhere where people have tried to put such a large wildlife crossing over such a busy highway in such an urban landscape, said Riley, who has led the mountain lion study.
Scientists long ago identified Liberty Canyon as the optimal location to build a wildlife passage because of the large swaths of protected public land on either side of the freeway.
On Wednesday, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority released a long-awaited study by Caltrans concluding that a wildlife overpass was feasible. The projected cost would be $33 million to $38 million, according to the report. Proponents said they plan to seek most of the money from public coffers.
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is a local partnership among the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Conejo Recreation and Park District, and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. The California Department of Transportation completed the project study with a $200,000 grant from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
Elected officials expressed enthusiastic support for the project.
Its critically important to provide a safe crossing over the busy 101 Freeway for wildlife, state Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), who lives near the proposed wildlife corridor, said in a statement. Now we need local, regional and national financial backing.
Pavley, who last year convened a group to help develop a state-of-the-art plan, added that the pathway would also help protect motorists, who could be killed or injured in collisions with animals.
Other supporters include Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles), Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and Ventura County Supervisor Linda Parks.
The report was the necessary first step toward a final design. Caltrans is expected soon to begin preparing the required environmental document, to be funded by a $1-million grant from the State Coastal Conservancy. The public would be asked to weigh in during this phase, which would run through 2017.
The National Wildlife Federation and the Santa Monica Mountains Fund have launched an initiative to raise funds for the engineering design and construction expenses.
The overpass would feature drought-tolerant vegetation placed so that it helps funnel wildlife across. Riley said hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians would also be able to use the structure.
Wildlife overpasses and underpasses are popular in Canada, Europe and Africa. Christmas Island National Park in Australia features an overpass for the islands millions of red crabs, a vital species that devours leaf litter in rainforests and recycles the nutrients.
The state of Washington recently broke ground on Interstate 90 near Snoqualmie Pass for the states first freeway overpass for animals. The 150-foot-long structure is designed to provide passage for black bears, cougars, deer, elk and even squirrels, mice and lizards.
Similar structures have aided wildlife in the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, where 30 species have been documented making more than 20,000 trips across the bridges a year.
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BRILLIANT!!!!
What a fantastic idea! Ever since the tragic death of P-32 I have been hoping that someone would come up with a way to stop more Mountain Lion deaths and that the population of them the Santa Monica Mountains could be recovered instead of falling victim to being accidentally struck by cars. There are not very many left up there and we have an obligation to help them recover, since we are the ones who ran our freeways through their land and habitat, without any safe way for them to cross and reproduce.
Mt. Lions are a national treasure and should be treated as such. I think that this is a wonderful idea and I hope it comes to be. We can't take enough care of our wildlife!
Nice find Randy!
Thanks. Many people around LA felt really bad about the death of P-32 in particular and it sort of was the straw that broke the camel's back for many of us It seemed he was in the news all of the time with his constant wanderings and successful crossings of the freeways. Until his last time that is. And so we (a lot of people) bitched to the county that something needed to be done. Who knew they would actually listen? Still, I hope all of the funding is set and not diverted to anything else. I hope this is a trend that will happen all over the country..
Absolutely a step in the right direction.
This is a great idea. I fully support and it's long overdue.
It's not a new idea. We've had them here on I-70 for years except they go under the freeway. I suspect the overpasses cost the taxpayer more so the government would favor the more wasteful approach.
the government would favor the more wasteful approach.
This is not a more wasteful manner of anything. This over pass will be all natural, with earth and plants and trees and will much more strongly encourage the traveling of wild life because of that. Especially the Mountain Lions.
Do under freeway passes work? Sure, if they have the proper fencing to prevent the animals from going onto the freeway and instead funnels them to the underpass, but why not make them even more inviting for the animals? Why NOT natural overpasses? Why not something that is all natural and looks like it belongs there? Why not something the blends in with the local scenery? Personally I think, as a California taxpayer, any costs from putting these kinds of crossings over the freeway, rather then going through tunneling under the freeway, is money well spent.
Dean/Kavika - that's exactly the idea I was trying to find pics of.
The Western Regional Governor's Council's Natural Resources committee has joined the data bases of a number of states in the West and part of the data base includes the "under the highway" bypasses for the critters. Getting to see some of the footage is absolutely outstanding - herds of deer, elk, groups of bear, cougars, the little/smaller cats, including the jaguar.
I like the idea Orange/Riverside counties have come up with - but, even in Cali, the funding is going to be a solution to come up with. Don't know where Jerry would come up with the matching funds.
Great idea! As our national infrastructure continues to grow, I hope that more and more consideration of our furry and feathered brothers and sisters is taken into account.
Actually, by the time the most serious fund raising starts, it'll be Gavin Newsome's problem. You are right of course that funding a project like this (and I hope it will not be the only one that we see) will be difficult to find. Still, hope springs eternal as I really don't want to see more dead wildlife (especially one of our shrinking population of Mountain Lions) on the freeways when it could be prevented and I think many of us here in California agree with that. I know I will certainly contribute to any fund raising efforts for this.
Although in Canada underpasses for wildlife are common, I agree with Randy's view that the overpass, such as the one depicted here, has to be far superior and more effective.
The ''crab bridge'', Christmas Island Australia.
I like the idea because, as I said, once complete it will look more natural (and hopefully more inviting to wildlife) and it will look like it blends in with it's surroundings. Like it's something that is naturally there.
Fantastic idea and very well thought out! It does what it's designed to do and the crabs seem to relate to it also! And it actually looks good! Form and functionality!