From Vox · Sara Herschander · · 3m
The mountain lion who built a bridge
A lonely puma named P-22 turned a stalled overpass idea into a national movement to make roads survivable for wildlife.
In brief
A lonely puma named P-22 turned a stalled overpass idea into a national movement to make roads survivable for wildlife. Wildlife crossings pay for themselves by preventing collisions, and they only become normal when planners build them in from the start instead of bolting them on after a fight. Originally reported by…
LA's loneliest lion
In 2012 a mountain lion called P-22 crossed two of California's deadliest freeways and settled in the Hollywood Hills. He found a home, but no mate, and no safe way back.
“LA's loneliest lion”
A freeway split his family
The highways that cut through his habitat stranded P-22 alone and left his clan on the far side of the I-405 heading toward local extinction.
How hard can it be
Beth Pratt asked a wildlife biologist in Griffith Park how she could help. He mentioned a little corridor that needed building. She said sure. It took fourteen years.
“I'm like, 'Sure, how hard can it be?' Well, apparently, it's quite hard.”
The world's largest crossing
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing opens in December: a 210-foot vegetated overpass carrying lions, coyotes, deer and black bears over ten lanes of the Ventura Freeway.
The toll we pay now
Wildlife collisions kill hundreds of people and hundreds of millions of animals in the US every year, and cause billions in damage. P-22 died before the bridge opened.
Baffled agencies, big bills
California's transportation agency reacted to the pitch with confusion, which made the build slower and pricier than it needed to be. Final cost: over $100 million.
A thousand crossings later
While LA struggled, the country copied the idea. More than 1,000 new wildlife corridors have appeared in 14 years, capped by a $350 million federal pilot program in 2021.
Not ornamental
Pete Buttigieg, Transportation secretary under Biden, framed crossings as core safety infrastructure rather than decoration for nature lovers.
“not ornamental ... something that ties into the very core of our mission, which is to secure the safety of the American traveling public”
Elk, alligators, toadlets
A camouflaged elk overpass on Colorado's I-25. Alligator tunnels under I-75 in the Everglades. Tiny passages for migrating toadlets beneath the Atlantic City Expressway.
Sometimes it's a hedgehog hole
Not every fix needs eight figures. Pratt points to a gap cut in a garden fence for hedgehogs, or a patch of flowers as a rest stop for bees crossing a lawn.
“Sometimes it's in your own backyard.”
The Dutch have thousands
Ecologist Marcel Huijser grew up in the Netherlands, where crossings have been standard for decades across a country roughly twice the size of Massachusetts.
Culture, not cost
US highways already cost three times more per mile than elsewhere, so price is not the real barrier. Norms and values are. Advocates have had to win crossings through lawsuits and lobbying.
“the norms, the values, [and] the culture”
Make me unnecessary
Pratt got death threats after right-wing outlets mocked the project as a butterfly bridge to nowhere. Her goal is still that crossings become a routine line in every transportation budget.
“The ultimate goal is you don't need someone like me.”
The big picture
Wildlife crossings pay for themselves by preventing collisions, and they only become normal when planners build them in from the start instead of bolting them on after a fight.
