Initial Indigenous Flora Installed at the Upcoming Largest Wildlife Overpass in Los Angeles
Southern California is famous for its harmonious blend of urban living and the natural environment. The region’s unique scenery, characterized by mountains, valleys, canyons, and streams scattered throughout residential neighborhoods and city thoroughfares, provides city residents with a special chance to retreat into nature’s peace. Sadly, this mixture of urban and natural spaces has frequently led to habitat disturbance for local wildlife, as animals face highways and the danger of being hit by vehicles while trying to navigate their fragmented habitats. The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which is currently being built, seeks to rectify this situation. Recently, the project reached a key milestone.
Upon its completion, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will become the largest wildlife overpass in the world. It is being constructed over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, situated 35 miles northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. The overpass will restore connectivity between the ecosystems of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills of the Santa Susana range. Work on this significant project commenced in April 2022, with the placement of the final horizontal girders anticipated in May 2024. As construction enters its final stages, teams have begun to plant nearly 5,000 native plants on the structure.
Beth Pratt, the regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation, underscored the significance of this phase during an interview with KCLU. “The construction thus far has focused on aspects like rebar and concrete, but we’re beginning to introduce what I consider the crucial element, which is nature atop the freeway,” Pratt elaborated. She stressed the importance of creating a habitat on the crossing, adding, “We placed the soil earlier this year, and today, we’re installing the first native plants from the nursery, aiming to foster a habitat for wildlife.”
To guarantee that the new vegetation on the overpass integrates smoothly with the surrounding ecosystem, a specialized team gathered seeds from the adjacent area. Pratt further explained the method: “They collected over a million hyperlocal seeds within a 5-mile radius and have been nurturing them in our native plant nursery. It feels like I’ve seen these plants develop, and today was their graduation.”
The overpass is carefully crafted to attract a variety of species, including mountain lions, bobcats, deer, bats, and birds, collectively contributing to a one-acre wildlife habitat. The initiative also seeks to improve road safety; according to Pew, wildlife overpasses can greatly decrease vehicle-animal collisions by as much as 90%. If construction continues as scheduled, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be finished by fall 2026.
The recent planting of native vegetation signifies a vital advancement toward transforming the overpass into a flourishing corridor for wildlife, ensuring safe passage across the freeway and encouraging biodiversity.