101 Freeway shutdown in LA will allow major work on a 'wildlife crossing' bridge

LOS ANGELES — All lanes of the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills will be closed overnight starting in mid-April and continuing for six to eight weeks to allow crews to complete a key stage in the construction of the $92 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing. The crossing will provide a link for mountain lions and other wildlife to cross into other wild areas that are currently blocked by the freeway.

The overnight closures of all southbound lanes of the 101 between Chesebro Road and Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills will start at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time Monday, April 15, and continue until Tuesday, April 16, at 5 a.m. Caltrans plans on closing the southbound lanes overnight Mondays through Fridays for several weeks. On Saturdays, they will reopen a little later.

The overnight closure of the southbound lanes will continue for several weeks to allow workers to begin building a crane on site. Once work is completed in the southbound operations, Caltrans will then close the northbound lanes overnight in the same section to allow for large girders to be put in place to form the skeleton of the wildlife crossing.

Caltrans said the overnight closures allow crews to place 82 large concrete girders above the freeway lanes. Each girder weighs between 126 tons and 140 tons. They will reach from the center median to the shoulder of the freeway.

Overnight freeway closures will last between six and eight weeks, said Eric Menjivar, Caltrans spokesperson. But those timelines could be extended depending on circumstances.

All lanes will be closed in only one direction each night and lanes in the opposite direction will stay open for traffic, Caltrans said.

Caltrans will provide a detour on local streets during the overnight closures.

Motorists can bypass the work zone by staying on an all-freeway detour using State Routes 23 and 118 and Interstate 405.

To learn more about the freeway closures, the public is invited to attend an in-person community meeting on Thursday, April 11, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Community Room at Agoura Hills City Hall, 30001 Ladyface Court, Agoura Hills.

The meeting will include representatives from Caltrans, city of Agoura Hills and the National Wildlife Federation, a leading supporter of the project.

...continued

swipe to next page