Agoura Road Closed for Wildlife Crossing
- Caltrans will resume weekday closures along a stretch of Agoura Road to continue construction on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. - Closures begin Monday and run weekdays from 7 a.m. through July 1, affecting drivers and local traffic patterns. - Work supports a major wildlife overpass aimed at reducing animal-vehicle collisions and restoring habitat connectivity (mynewsla.com)
Agoura Road in Agoura Hills is closing again on weekdays starting Monday, April 20, as crews keep building the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over U.S. 101. (mynewsla.com) The closure runs from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday through July 1, according to Caltrans. The affected stretch is between Liberty Canyon Road and Cornell Road, with access maintained for residents, businesses and emergency vehicles. (mynewsla.com) This is the latest in a string of spring shutdowns tied to the same project. Caltrans announced similar Agoura Road closures in March 2026 as bridge work advanced near Liberty Canyon. (mynewsla.com) The structure under construction is a planted bridge designed to carry animals over the Ventura Freeway instead of forcing them across traffic lanes. Caltrans says it will span U.S. 101 at Liberty Canyon and be the largest wildlife crossing of its type in the nation. (caltrans.ca.gov) The crossing sits at one of the best-known choke points in the Santa Monica Mountains, where the freeway split habitat that once connected the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy says the project is meant to reconnect those lands for mountain lions, bobcats, deer and other species. (smmc.ca.gov) National Park Service researchers have spent more than 25 years tracking wildlife in the area and say the freeway has isolated local mountain lions. Their research found inbreeding, low genetic diversity and repeated vehicle deaths in the study area as animals tried to cross roads and freeways. (nps.gov) A 2015 project study cited by the conservancy said 12 mountain lions had been struck and killed by vehicles in the National Park Service study area since research began in 2002, including one near Liberty Canyon Road on U.S. 101 in 2013. (smmc.ca.gov) Construction on the crossing began in 2022 after years of planning, land protection and fundraising by public agencies and private donors. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy describes it as a public-private partnership involving Caltrans, state agencies, the National Park Service and the Annenberg Foundation. (smmc.ca.gov) Caltrans and park researchers have said the bridge will be covered with soil and native plants so animals encounter terrain that feels like open habitat, not a concrete overpass. The work now disrupting Agoura Road is part of finishing that link above one of Southern California’s busiest freeways. (caltrans.ca.gov; nps.gov) For drivers, the immediate change is a weekday detour through early summer. For the project, the next milestone is the same one it has been chasing for years: a safe path across the 101 at Liberty Canyon. (mynewsla.com; smmc.ca.gov)
