Staff Reports
Finally, the people of Los Angeles can rejoice as the construction of the “world’s largest wildlife crossing” bridge is underway on the 101 Freeway. The freeway will be closed overnight on weekdays for weeks, so the California Department of Transportation can construct this massive bridge over 10 lanes. But don’t worry, folks, this is all for the safety of the public, or so they say.
California Highway 101 will close overnight for construction for ‘world’s largest wildlife crossing’ https://t.co/fmJsCplK3X https://t.co/fmJsCplK3X
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 17, 2024
The bridge is being built to help wildlife cross from the Santa Monica Mountains into the Simi Hills of the Santa Susana mountain range. Not only that, but it will be covered with native landscape to blend in with the area. Sounds fancy, right? Well, it should, with a bunch of tree-huggers and “Save LA Cougars” throwing their money at it. Construction began in April 2022 and is expected to be completed in 2025, so get ready for the traffic headaches.
Now, they’re trying to tell people that this bridge is mainly for the benefit of mountain lions. Apparently, the poor things are having trouble finding love due to the dang highway, resulting in “inbreeding.” Who knew mountain lions had a Tinder problem? The National Park Service claims that the lions in the Santa Monica Mountains have some of the lowest genetic diversity ever documented. But with all this hoopla about the mountain lions, it’s easy to forget about all the other critters that will be using this bridge. What about the bears, insects, and reptiles? Do they not deserve their own crossing?
The proponents of this project are pointing to Canada’s Banff Wildlife Crossings Project as proof that these bridges work. They claim that the bears and grizzlies are using the crossings to breed successfully, ensuring populations on either side of the highway are not being genetically isolated. But hey, who cares about grizzlies and black bears when we’ve got mountain lions to worry about, right?
And get this, apparently, these wildlife bridges are supposed to reduce animal-vehicle collisions by 80%. But wait, wasn’t the highway already closed for weeks for construction? What about the safety of the public then? It seems like the only thing they’re concerned about is the wildlife.
Let’s not forget that all this construction is being funded by outside groups and, deep breath, taxpayers. The National Park Service claims that if something isn’t done to solve the mountain lion inbreeding problem, they could be extinct in 50 years. Frankly, it’s hard to believe all this talk about extinction when these mountain lions have been managing just fine for centuries without a fancy bridge. But hey, who needs a sense of perspective when you’ve got a taxpayer-funded wildlife crossing to build, right?
