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OAN Staff Addie Davis
5:23 PM – Friday, March 20, 2026
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, currently being built over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, a city situated in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, is reportedly facing a major budget increase and a revised completion date.
It is estimated that the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC) will be finished at about $21 million over budget.
In a social media update, Beth Pratt, the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) regional executive director, asserted that “the world changed” since the project’s 2021 inception. She further claimed that between “inflation, tariffs, and labor challenges,” the crossing is now expected to exceed its original $92.6 million budget.
“The wildlife crossing at Liberty Canyon over the 101 Freeway — which will be the largest wildlife crossing in the world — will reconnect a long-fragmented ecosystem, a biodiversity hotspot, and help protect the endangered mountain lion population and other wildlife that make their home in the Santa Monica Mountains,” said the NFW, who is heading up the project through the #SaveLACougars, in a 2021 press release before construction began.
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) initially pledged $64 million in state support during the 2022 ceremony. However, that figure has since climbed. In February, the Golden State governor announced that the California Transportation Commission had allocated an additional $18.8 million to the project.
“The Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is an ambitious project, one that bridges the gap between conservation and urban development. The crossing will make life safer for both Los Angeles wildlife and drivers frequenting US 101 – and will ensure people and animals can thrive together for generations to come,” Newsom said.
Although initially slated for a 2025 debut, the project’s completion has been pushed to late 2026. The total cost is now estimated at $114 million — with approximately $77 million coming from state coffers — drawing sharp criticism from Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, who blasted the project on X this past Thursday.
“OVER $100 MILLION for a project that takes other states a FRACTION of the price! This is not how our tax dollars should be spent!”
In a Wednesday X post, the Governor Newsom Press Office account also claimed that the increase in construction costs, which it blamed in part on Trump’s tariffs, “is vastly LOWER than the 67% national average increase in highway construction costs.”
“The timeline shifted by just ONE YEAR largely due to severe weather last year — five years of work is far from a “boondoggle,” it continued.
These remarks were in response to a viral post by the popular conservative X account “End Wokeness,” which criticized the project as an expensive bridge “leading nowhere.”
The post quickly gained national attention, drawing a response from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who joined the online conversation regarding the project’s mounting costs.
“Bridges to nowhere. Trains to nowhere. Leave the building to us, @GavinNewsom,” he said.
The Newsom administration projects a $3 billion deficit for the 2026-27 budget, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. It also reported steeper estimates and that the deficit could rise in coming years to $35 billion, per the California Post.
This wildlife bridge delay follows a similar setback for the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Automated People Mover, an elevated train system now running two years behind schedule.
The $3.34 billion project is not expected to be operational until late 2026, meaning it will likely miss the influx of travelers arriving for the FIFA World Cup in June.
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