Newsom’s $114 Million Wildlife Bridge to Nowhere (just like his multi-billion dollar High Speed Rail to Nowhere) is overdue and significantly over budget.
A Southern California overpass “for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions” is overdue and over budget.
In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC), a project featuring an overpass for animals atop ten lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. At the ceremony, Newsom boasted that the state had committed $54 million. He promised to “complete the job within another $10 million,” before seeming to hedge on whether that final sum would do the trick. Officials projected a 2025 completion date for the overpass, and estimated that the entire project—which includes the bridge and other ancillary developments—would cost $92 million, some of it coming from private philanthropists.
"Nearly four years after the ceremony, the bridge is past due and the project some $21 million over budget. What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook for what WAWC leader Beth Pratt told us is an overpass “for everything from monarch butterflies to mountain lions.”
"…the California Transportation Commission funneled another $18.8 million to the project, well exceeding the governor’s $10 million cap. The project’s total price tagnow reaches about $114 million,reportedly including some $77 million in state funds. Newsom’s office pointed us to a press release in response to our request for comment.
"Why has a project primarily consisting of a bridge for animals cost over $100 million? One reason is that Newsom and WAWC’s philanthropic supporters apparently don’t mind it becoming a patronage program. As the WAWC-endorsing Wildlife Crossing Fund notes, citing the California Department of Transportation’s estimate, “for every $1 billion spent” on wildlife crossings, “13,000 jobs are created.”
"Some of these jobs are absurd. …
"..At the groundbreaking ceremony, Newsom envisioned WAWC as a catalyst for the construction of wildlife crossings across the state. California, he boasted, set aside $105 million “to replicate projects like this all up and down the state.” Pratt reportedly thinks “hundreds more crossings are needed.”
"…Californians can’t afford it. The Newsom administration projects a $2.9 billion budget deficit for 2026–2027. The state legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal advisor had published steeper estimates and claimed the deficit could rise to $35 billion in coming years…."
https://www.city-journal.org/article/california-wallis-annenberg-wildlife-crossing-gavin-newsom
https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/high-speed-rail-seeks-private-investor-21268482.php
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/02/california-closes-in-on-completing-the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing/