The Angels.- The construction of the “world’s largest” wildlife bridgewhich will allow large cats, coyotes, deer and snakes, among others, to cross over a ten-lane highway without risk of being run over, kicked off this Friday in Southern California Coinciding with Earth Day.
After more than a decade of public and private efforts today kicked off the Wallis Annenberg Bridge for Wildlife, which will connect the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills, and the northern and southern Santa Susana Mountains divided by the 101 freeway, one of the two arteries that connect Los Angeles with the north of the state.
Beth Pratt, director of the National Wildlife Federation in California, which is involved in the project, told Efe that this ambitious 174-foot-wide (53-meter) and 210-foot-long (64-meter) bridge will be the “largest in the world.” “and the first of its kind near a major metropolis.
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“It’s really inspiring,” he stresses.
In addition to providing a safe route for animals, like other wildlife crossings, the bridge will also provide habitat, food and water for hundreds of species of animals in the area.
“Life is not only going to travel across this bridge, it’s going to live on it. It’s going to be a living ecosystem on the highway,” warns Pratt.
The bridge surface will be covered with almost an acre of native vegetation. Seeds and mushrooms will be collected from the area and planted in a temporary nursery to later be planted on the structure where they can grow naturally. This will attract birds, butterflies, bees, lizards and thousands of other animals to make their home on the bridge.
In this regard Robert Rock, landscape architect who directs the design, explained to Eph that it is being “redesigned down to the microscopic level and thinking about everything from the biology of the soil and its microorganisms to the variety of plants”.
“It is a complete connection of the ecosystem through the highway,” added the architect about the road that will be built with materials that will silence the noise of vehicles and divert their lights at night.
saving the pen
The construction of this bridge is in response to more than two decades of studies by the National Park Service that revealed the need to create a connection between areas divided by highways in California for the endangered cougars.
Pratt recalls that he joined the initiative in 2012 as part of his work to save these cats.
He points out that cougars are the animals that are currently “at greater risk” of disappearing in the area because the highway “literally” is a barrier for them to find a mate outside their family circle, affecting “genetic diversity.”
The problem facing cougars in Southern California has gained national and international attention following the story of the P-22 cougar, which Pratt has dubbed the “Brad Pitt of mountain lions” because he is handsome, enigmatic yet unlucky in love
Famous for traveling across two freeways and making Los Angeles’s Griffith Park his home, P-22 became a symbol of the diminishing genetic diversity of animals trapped by development and the face of the fundraising campaign. for the new bridge, although you probably won’t use it because it’s far from that area.
The danger of highways
P-22 managed to avoid being run over on highways, but unfortunately about 300,000 wild animals are involved in a collision on US highways each year, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
On Highway 101, it is estimated that 300,000 to 400,000 vehicles pass each day, a risk that Pratt believes is latent for the animals that try to pass from one side to the other.
In this sense, Rock emphasizes that the “pragmatic” aspect of projects such as the new bridge must be seen, since “it is not just about preserving the integrity of the ecosystem and saving the pumas, but also about protecting travelers and saving large amounts of money that is spent due to accidents with wild animals”.
The cost of the bridge, which is expected to open in 2025, will reach 90 million dollars, which will be covered by 60% of private donations and the rest in contributions of public funds, which were already assured by the governor of California, Gavin Newsom .
Pratt hopes this project will encourage more wildlife bridges to be built near major cities and towns.
For his part, Rock is hopeful that the union of the public and private sector by this bridge will be emulated by other communities. “This is unique.”
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He adds that the bridge can also inspire connectivity strategies on a smaller scale such as in the backyard of a house or in a neighborhood. “You don’t need a big intersection through a highway to do something that has a common good for the community and the ecosystem.”
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