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First native plants installed on the 101 Freeway wildlife crossing in Agoura Hills
The first native plants were installed along the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing on Tuesday.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
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Native plants are being placed on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing Tuesday, marking another milestone for what officials say will be the largest bridge of its kind in the world.
Over the next few months, about 5,000 more plants are expected to be installed along the bridge — which stretches over all 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills — to help create a nearly one-acre wildlife habitat.
Once complete, the crossing is expected to reconnect areas traversed by Southern California mountain lions, bobcats, deer, bats, birds and other animals — big and small.
The native plants, which include dozens of species sourced from within a 5-mile radius of the crossing in the Santa Monica Mountains, come from a nursery that was created specifically for the project. Officials said a nursery team spent the last four years collecting more than 1.1 million hyper-local seeds by hand to support the soon-to-be habitat.
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The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is now in its final construction stage and is on track to be finished by the end of next year.
About the plants
The plants include narrowleaf milkweed, which is critical for the monarch butterfly population, purple sage, which attracts hummingbirds, and California aster, which provides pollen and nectar to bees.
The plants will spring from specially engineered soil that was installed along the bridge in March and April. Officials said the roughly 6,000 cubic yards of soil — which is partly compost, branches and leaf litter — is comparable to what makes up the green sloping hills on either side of the busy freeway.
Scientists, biologists, engineers and mycologists designed the material to make sure it’s appropriate for native plants, animals and the crossing itself, officials previously told LAist.
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The native plants that are being placed on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing include dozens of distinct species sourced from within a five-mile radius of the structure in the Santa Monica Mountains.
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Courtesy of the #SaveLACougars campaign
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Beth Pratt, wearing a pink high-visibility vest, leads the first handfuls of soil dropped on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing construction on Monday, March 31.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
)
The view from near the top of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing on Monday, March 31.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
)
Some of the soil that will layer the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.
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Makenna Sievertson
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LAist
)
“We're designing all the way from those microbial components all the way up to the apex predator,” said Robert Rock, president of Rock Design Associates, the landscape architecture company overseeing the project.
What’s next
Crews are making progress on a second structure that will add onto the current reach over the freeway. It’ll stretch over two lanes of the smaller Agoura Road, but it’ll be as wide as the one built over the freeway.
The second structure will stretch over two lanes of Agoura Road.
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Courtesy of Rock Design Associates and National Wildlife Federation
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The second structure has required a “monumental” effort from multiple agencies, according to project officials, including burying high-voltage power lines underground, relocating several telecommunication lines and rerouting a regional waterline.
The crossing is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. In addition to helping animals cross safely over the freeway, it’s expected to restore an ecosystem damaged by human development, according to the Annenberg Foundation.
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You can check-in on the project’s progress through livestream cameras here.
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