{"id":2223164,"date":"2024-04-17T12:32:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T16:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-highway-101-will-close-overnight-for-construction-for-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T12:35:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T16:35:15","slug":"california-highway-101-will-close-overnight-for-construction-for-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-highway-101-will-close-overnight-for-construction-for-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing\/","title":{"rendered":"California&#8217;s Highway 101 to temporarily close for construction of the &#8216;world&#8217;s largest wildlife crossing&#8217; during overnight hours"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-highway-101-will-close-overnight-for-construction-for-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2223164&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A section of the\u2064 101 Freeway in Los\u2062 Angeles will close \u200bfor weeks\u2063 to build\u2062 the &#8216;world&#8217;s largest wildlife crossing&#8217; bridge. The \u200cbridge aims to connect \u2062habitats for wildlife \u2062like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/man-saves-dog-from-mountain-lion-attack-in-colo\/\" title=\"Man saves dog from mountain lion attack in Colo.\">mountain lions<\/a>, whose <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rpt-treasury-dept-spied-on-americans-bank-transactions\/\" title=\"Treasury Dept. Monitored US Bank Transactions\">genetic \u2064diversity<\/a> is \u2063threatened by the highway. Scheduled \u200bovernight closures will facilitate construction on \u2064weekdays,\u2062 with completion \u200cexpected by 2025. A \u200csegment of the 101 \u2064Freeway\u200c in\u200c Los Angeles will temporarily shut down to construct the &#8216;world&#8217;s largest wildlife crossing&#8217; bridge. This bridge is designed to link habitats for various wildlife, especially mountain lions, whose genetic diversity is at risk due to the freeway. Overnight closures during weekdays will enable\u200b construction, targeting completion by 2025.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A portion of the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/04\/14\/us\/california-wildlife-crossing-road-closure\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>closed<\/a> for weeks in order to construct the \u201cworld\u2019s largest wildlife crossing\u201d bridge.<\/p>\n<p>Starting Monday, Highway 101 will be closed overnight on weekdays in order to construct the bridge over 10 lanes. The bridge will allow wildlife to cross from the Santa Monica Mountains into the Simi Hills of the Santa Susana mountain range. It will also be covered with landscape native to the area in order to blend in for the wildlife. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese closures are for the safety of the public while crews place girders over the freeway to construct the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a vegetated bridge across Highway 101 to reconnect wildlife habitat,\u201d the California Department of Transportation said. <\/p>\n<p>An outside group, <a href=\"https:\/\/savelacougars.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Save LA Cougars<\/a>, raised money for the project. Construction of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-taxpayers-funded-a-10-million-embroidery-job-creation-project-in-afghanistan-it-failed\/\" title=\"U.S. Taxpayers Funded A  Million Embroidery Job Creation Project In Afghanistan. It Failed.\">project began<\/a> in April 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2025. <\/p>\n<p>Full freeway closures are not expected, according to the project\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/101wildlifecrossing.org\/crossing-faq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>website<\/a>. In 2016, the highway was the nation\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/2016\/03\/16\/101-freeway-stretch-is-most-congested-in-the-nation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>busiest<\/a> freeway. <\/p>\n<p>The bridge will allow all types of animals, insects, and reptiles to cross over the highway, but it is mainly for the benefit of mountain lions. Mountain lions typically have a range of 150-200 miles, but the highway restricts that, resulting in \u201cinbreeding,\u201d which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/projects\/la-me-mountain-lion-freeway-bridge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>dangerous<\/a> to species and can lead to extinction. Because mountain lions are at the top of the food chain in this area, that could have drastic effects on the entire wildlife population.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGenetic analyses indicate that lions in the Santa Monica Mountains have among the lowest genetic diversity of any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-denver-bronco-says-he-killed-reputed-predatory-mountain-lion-then-he-gets-slammed-for-posing-with-carcass\/\" title=\"Former Denver Bronco Says He Killed Reputed Predatory Mountain Lion. Then He Gets Slammed For Posing With Carcass.\">mountain lion population<\/a> ever documented,\u201d the National Park Service said.<\/p>\n<p>Research in other regions supports the effectiveness of bridges like Los Angeles\u2019s latest construction. In Canada, the <a href=\"https:\/\/discoverapega.ca\/stories\/wildlife-crossings-key-to-highway-safety-in-banff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Banff Wildlife Crossings Project<\/a> has allowed bears to generate more biodiversity. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cShowing that the black bears and grizzlies using the crossings to traverse the highway are also breeding is a major finding,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montana.edu\/news\/12440\/msu-study-proves-that-wildlife-crossing-structures-promote-gene-flow-in-banff-bears\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> former Montana State University graduate student Michael Sawaya, who studied the effectiveness of Canada\u2019s bridge in terms of biodiversity. \u201cWhile there have been a lot of studies showing that wildlife are using these crossings, this is the first time anyone has shown that animals using the crossings are breeding often enough to ensure that the populations on either side of the highway are not being genetically isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In terms of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/police-officer-deaths-surged-in-2021-report-shows\/\" title=\"Police Officer Deaths Surged In 2021, Report Shows\">vehicle collisions<\/a> with wildlife, these bridges are also effective. The Banff Wildlife Crossings Project, constructed in 1996, reduced animal-related collisions by 80%.<\/p>\n<p>Beginning in 2002, the National Park Service began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/samo\/learn\/nature\/pumapage.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>conducting research<\/a> that supports the need for a wildlife bridge crossing in this part of Southern California. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2019\/03\/190320102158.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>one study<\/a>, mountain lions in the Southern California region are at risk of extinction within 50 years due to inbreeding.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A section of the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles will close for weeks to build the &#8216;world&#8217;s largest wildlife crossing&#8217; bridge. Overnight closures on weekdays starting Monday will facilitate the construction of the 10-lane bridge enabling wildlife to cross from the Santa Monica Mountains<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2223165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/wildlife-crossing-bridgfe-1024x593.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2223164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/wildlife-crossing-bridgfe-1024x593.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2223165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}