World's largest highway overpass for wildlife on track in California

[jpak]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/worlds-largest-highway-overpass-for-wildlife-on-track-in-california/

Los Angeles -- Like many urban singles, the mountain lion P-22 lives a solitary life in a too-small habitat. And he has a hard time finding a mate in the big city.

Famous for traveling across two freeways and making a huge Los Angeles park his home, the lonesome big cat has become a symbol of the shrinking genetic diversity of wild animals that must remain all but trapped by sprawling development or risk becoming roadkill.

Hoping to fend off the extinction of mountain lions and other species that require room to roam, transportation officials and conservationists will build a mostly privately funded wildlife crossing over a major Southern California highway. It will give big cats, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other creatures a safe route to open space and better access to food and potential mates.

The span along U.S. 101 will only be the second animal overpass in a state where tunnels are more common. Officials say it will be the first of its kind near a major metropolis and the largest in the world, stretching 200 feet above 10 lanes of busy highway and a feeder road just 35 miles northwest of downtown L.A.

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[Bayard]

1. The best of intentions

But I think those species are going to have a problem with 10 lanes of noisy vehicles under their feet. And what happens when a mountain lion and a deer try to cross at the same time.

Still, I hope it works.