A portion of Highway 101 in Los Angeles County will close overnight in April to allow for continued construction work on the world’s largest wildlife crossing.
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is located in Agoura Hills near Liberty Canyon Road.
The massive wildlife crossing bridge will connect two natural landscapes that have been bisected by one of the nation’s busiest highways, stretching over 200 feet long and 165 feet wide across the roadway.
It’s one of the biggest infrastructure construction projects currently underway in Southern California and crews will be working overnight hours in the coming week to keep the project on track.
Although specific dates have yet to be announced, Caltrans says complete overnight closures will take place near the construction site each weekday between midnight and 5 a.m., except Saturdays when construction will go later into the morning.
Some individual lanes may also be closing as early as 7 p.m. before the complete shutdowns go into effect.
Only one side of the freeway will be closed at a time when the overnight work begins in mid- to late April, Caltrans said.
Detours will be provided on local streets via Agoura, Liberty Canyon, Chesebro and Palo Comado Canyon roads. Drivers are also encouraged avoid the closures entirely by utilizing other routes, including Highway 126 between Ventura and the Santa Clarita Valley.
Caltrans stresses that the schedule and specific times for these closures are subject to change and dependent on weather conditions, so drivers should check their route before departing. To receive alerts about the closures, email Caltrans District 7.
Construction crews broke ground on the Southern California wildlife crossing in spring 2022 with construction expected to be completed in 2025.
The price tag for the project was originally estimated to be more than $90 million.
In November, crews worked overnight to pour “hundreds of tons” of wet concrete for the foundation of the bridge wall next to the southbound lanes.
There are currently only a handful of wildlife crossings across California, but that could change in the coming years.
In September 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to require the state to identify locations where animals face barriers that separate them from moving freely and prioritize building or converting existing infrastructure to allow them to cross more safely.
For more information on the Agoura Hills crossing, click here.