The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills, California, will open in 2026, giving Southern California a major new piece of conservation infrastructure over one of the region’s busiest freeways. Travel + Leisure reported that the crossing is expected to open on December 2. The vegetated overpass will span U.S. Highway 101 northwest of Los Angeles, where the freeway has long divided a protected habitat in the Santa Monica Mountains region.
The California Department of Transportation, also known as Caltrans, says the crossing will sit west of Liberty Canyon Road and create a safer route for mountain lions, bobcats, gray foxes, coyotes, mule deer, and other animals that move through the area. The project broke ground on Earth Day in 2022 and is moving forward through a public-private partnership that includes Caltrans, the National Wildlife Federation, the National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Annenberg Foundation, and other partners.
California Wildlife Crossing Will Reconnect Habitat Near Los Angeles
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is designed as a landscaped bridge for wildlife, not as a pedestrian attraction or scenic overlook. Caltrans identifies the project as a vegetated bridge across U.S. Highway 101, also known as the Ventura Freeway. The freeway separates the Santa Monica Mountains from open space that connects toward the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. That division has made movement for wildlife more dangerous and reduced access to the broader habitat network animals need to survive.
The project is expected to become the world’s largest wildlife crossing. The project’s official FAQs say the full crossing includes two structures: one over the 101 Freeway and another over Agoura Road. The freeway structure measures about 250 feet by 174 feet, while the Agoura Road structure measures about 71 feet by 175 feet. Together, the full project spans nearly 13 acres. These include habitat restoration, native planting, and approach areas intended to make the crossing feel like part of the surrounding landscape to animals…