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.
Construction is taking place in stages. According to Caltrans, the first stage, which included the vegetated bridge structure over U.S. Highway 101 and related roadway work within the Caltrans right-of-way, began in mid-2022 and was completed in June 2025. The second stage includes crossing over Agoura Road, relocating utilities, performing earthwork, and restoring wildlife habitat near the freeway and Agoura Road. Caltrans says this stage is scheduled for completion in 2026, though dates remain subject to weather and operational changes.
Why The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing Matters For Mountain Lions
Mountain lions are central to the project’s conservation purpose. U.S. Highway 101 has restricted wildlife movement between mountain ranges and contributed to inbreeding, territorial conflict, and low genetic diversity among mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains. The project also states that one of its main goals is to reconnect an ecosystem that includes both plants and animals, while addressing genetic isolation in a local mountain lion population threatened by fragmentation.
The crossing was originally expected to be completed sooner, but the weather affected the schedule. Record precipitation and flooding disrupted construction progress over two spring seasons and delayed the site’s drying after major rainfall events. Funding comes from public and private sources, with major support from the Annenberg Foundation, other private donors, and the California Wildlife Conservation Board. Additional funding comes from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the California State Coastal Conservancy, the State of California, foundations, and individual contributors through the Save L.A. Cougars campaign, a collaboration between the National Wildlife Federation and the Santa Monica Mountains Fund.
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