California’s unfinished wildlife ‘bridge to nowhere’ tops $100M https://

[excalibur]

Another Newsom black hole.

Does no one follow the money?

In 2022, California Gov. 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.

...

... The project’s total price tag now 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. ...

...​

California’s unfinished wildlife ‘bridge to nowhere’ tops $100M

What was supposed to be the world’s largest wildlife crossing has become a jobs program for environmentalists, with taxpayers on the hook.

nypost.com

 

[toobfreak]

... The project’s total price tag now reaches about $114 million, reportedly including some $77 million in state funds.

Gee, you can buy an awful lot of wildlife for 114 million dollars.

They'll have 300 million in this thing before finished.

I like the idea, it has its good intentions, but this is ridiculous. Worse, I'd laugh if completed, wildlife were afraid to use it.

Now back to trying to save the dead marine smelt fishies.

 

[lg325]

Lack of knowledge of managment skills is always the culprit.
Organizing people,tools ,material and time to achive a goal on time and within budget must be combined with a strong knowledge of the task to be completed.

 

[1srelluc]

I know critters will use a tunnel under an Interstate but I'm not sure about them using a bridge over a 10-lane interstate.

In fact I can't ever remember seeing deer crossing a bridge....I know coyotes will.