Photo: Living Habitats/NWF / EFE
For: EFE Updated 22 Apr 2022, 000: 08 pm EDT
The construction of the “world’s largest” wildlife bridge, which will allow large cats, coyotes, deer and snakes, among others, to cross over a ten-lane highway without the risk of being run over , started this Friday in southern California to coincide with Earth Day.
After more than a decade of public and private efforts today the starting signal was given to lift the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Bridge, which will connect the Santa Monica, Simi Hills, and the area north and south of the Santa Susana Mountains divided by the highway 101, 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, said that this ambitious bridge of 99 feet wide (53 meters) and 210 feet of extension (64 meters) will be the “largest in the world” and the first of its kind near a major metropolis.
“It’s really inspiring”, he underlined.
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 will not only travel on this bridge but will live on it. It’s going to be a living ecosystem on the highway.”
Beth Pratt, director of the National Wildlife Federation in California
The surface of the bridge 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 animals to make their home on the bridge.
About Robert Rock, landscape architect leading the design, explained that the bridge is being “redesigned down to the microscopic level and thinking about everything, from the biology of the soil and its microorganisms to the plant variety”.
“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 will deflect their lights at night.
Saving the cougar
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 co connection between the areas divided by California highways for the endangered cougars.
Pratt remembers that he joined the initiative in 2012 as part of their work to save these felines.
Points out that pumas 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 partner outside their family circle affecting “genetic diversity”.
The problem faced by cougars in southern California has gained national and international interest following the story of the cougar P-18, whom Pratt has baptized as the “Brad Pitt of mountain lions”, since he is attractive, enigmatic but unlucky in love.
Famous for traveling across two highways and making L’s Griffith Park Los Angeles your home, P-22 he turned in a symbol of the diminishing genetic diversity of animals trapped by development and the face of the fundraising campaign for the new bridge, although it is likely that he will not use it because it is far from that area.
The danger of highways493580985957
P-22 managed to save himself from being run over on his way through the highways, but unfortunately around 357,000 Wild animals are annually involved in a collision on US highways, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
On the freeway 101 it is estimated that they pass 300,000 a 400,000 vehicles per day, a risk that for Pratt 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 preserve the integrity of the ecosystem and save the cougars but to protect travelers and save large amounts of money that are spent due to accidents with wild animals”.
The cost of the bridge, which is expected to open in 2012, will reach $90 million dollars, which will be covered in a 60 % of private donations and the rest in contributions of public funds, which were already insured by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Pratt hopes that this project will incentivize the construction of more bridges wildlife near big cities and towns.
By For his part, Rock is hopeful that bringing the public and private sectors together over this bridge will be emulated by other communities. “This is unique”.
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.”
By Ana Milena Varón