Cougars May Get Their Own Overpass Across Highway 101

Make way for wildlife

By Mary Beth Griggs | Published Sep 4, 2015 1:52 AM EDT

Environment

Wildlife Bridge — A screenshot of the proposed wildlife bridge, situated over highway 101. National Wildlife Federation California/YouTube

Ok, it isn’t a $900 million, 1,800 miles long, wolves-only roadway but the proposed plan for a wildlife overpass in California is very ambitious.

The results of a feasibility study of this overpass were announced this week. The study, prepared by the California Department of transportation, found that the 165 foot-wide, 200 foot-long overpass was indeed feasible, and would cost between $33 and $38 million.

The area where the overpass is intended to go would cross 10 lanes of highway 101 in Los Angeles County. The Santa Monica Mountains Fund, a conservation group, says that in the past decade only one mountain lion has made it to the other side of that particular stretch of road alive.

If the bridge is built (funding and permits still need to be secured) it would serve as a corridor between populations of mountain lions that have long been separated by the roadway.

Plenty of other places around the world have created similar bypasses for wildlife, including crab bridges in Australia, bee highways in Norway, and amphibian tunnels in the United States.