$7.1M Grant Awarded To Develop Alameda County Wildlife Crossings

LIVERMORE, CA — The Alameda County Resource Conservation District received a $7.1 million grant from the State of California Wildlife Conservation Board to develop wildlife crossing structures and barrier fencing in Alameda County.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has identified portions of 680, 580, and SR-84 as Priority Barriers to prevent road accidents and increase habitats. The project’s first phase will study the region to identify three viable locations for the construction of over or undercrossing structures, the ACRCD said in a news release. Researchers hope to include three crossings.

“This wildlife crossings project maximizes efficiency by not simply providing a single crossing structure, but a network of three-crossing structures that will have an even greater cumulative impact on animal movement and resilience across the East Bay,” ACRCD said. “Additionally, completing all designs simultaneously provides significant overall cost savings.”

The planning phase of the process is expected to take 3.5 years.

The East Bay Wildlife Crossings project aims to protect public safety and endangered species, like mountain lions, bobcats, tule elk and more. Over 3200 creatures belonging to 94 species were reported as roadkill in Alameda County between 2009 and 2022, according to Fraser Shilling, a research scientist and co-director of the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis.

There are over 1,000 dedicated wildlife crossings across the United States as of September 2022, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. About $22 million has been raised for a proposed crossing over Highway 101 near Santa Cruz, which would connect the Santa Cruz and Gabilan mountain ranges. Construction is also underway on a crossing at the Laurel Curve section of Highway 17.

In Southern California, construction is underway on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 just north of Los Angeles. The project is expected to complete in 2025.