California To Open World’s Largest Animal Crossing On Earth Day
By Rebekah Gonzalez
March 25, 2022
The world's largest wildlife crossing is coming to California. According to the Associated Press, a bridge over a major Southern California will give room for mountain lions and other animals to roam.
The National Wildlife Federation announced that a ceremony marking the start of construction over U.S. 101 near Los Angeles will take place on Earth Day, April 22. According to the federation's Beth Pratt, the bridge will give a safe route to open space in the Santa Monica Mountains to big cats, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes, and more creatures.
“Crossings like this are nothing new," Pratt told AP, noting there is one outside Yosemite for toads. "This one's historic because we're putting it over one of the busiest freeways in the world.” But the bridge will be the first of its kind near a major metro and largest in the world, stretching 200 feet above 10 highway lanes and a feeder road 35 miles northwest of downtown LA.
The construction of the bridge will take place mainly at night, meaning there won't be any lengthy shutdowns on the freeway as they work to finish the bridge by early 2025. Private donations have funded 60% of the $90 million project. The rest has come from public funds allocated for conservation purposes.