California Bridge to Nowhere Remains Unfinished, Now Costs $114 Million

Every time I see a dead critter by the highway I wonder: Why can't we build gently-sloping pedestrian bridges, topped with grass and bushes, for wildlife to cross over safely? It's not just good for them; people crash their cars due to deer all the time.

Well, a government filled with left-wing fuck-up grifters is why.

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.

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Pratt, a cougar-sweater-wearing environmental activist who serves on WAWC's Partner Leadership Team, is the program's public face. She is also a regional executive director of the national Wildlife Federation. In 2021, the group received a $25 million grant from "Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation" for the bridge that bears the late philanthropist's name.

That money apparently was not enough. This past January, donning a hard hat and a "#SAVELACOUGARS" jersey, Pratt announced a possible $21 million overage. She effectively blamed President Trump, attributing the multimillion-dollar overrun to "tariffs, inflation, [and] labor problems."

"There's no boondoggle," she said. "Given the times we're living in," a potential $21 million overage is "not that bad."

Over $100 million for a bridge which only needs to bear the weight of, checks notes, skunks and the occasional herd of deer. Oh, and six inches of dirt, maybe.

This is not an overpass for vehicles. It does not need to bear the weight of multiton trucks driving at 75mph. The engineering needed here is pretty forgiving.

But still, they can't finish it for less than $114 million.

And if you think that will be the final bill, I've got a Butterfly Bridge to sell you.

(Yes, the bridge must also serve as a path for butterflies. Think of the additional engineering requirements to bear the weight of several dozen butterflies.)

How can you degenerates literally be bad at everything?

Here's how: They're all taking a piece.

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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."

A group of experts apparently adds to the operation's expense. A fungi whiz, Pratt says, worked as a WAWC habitat designer, periodically scrutinizing root samples under a microscope. A contracted soil scientist said his process involves assessing local dirt to "rebuild it ... as close to nature as possible."

1, that's a scam, 2, you build a slope, a bridge, put some dirt on it, and it's done. It's close enough to nature. We just want animals crossing here, not attempting to build animal cities.

By the way: I think any path covered in dirt would be "closer to nature" than the highway it spans, no?

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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."

Here's the thing: their own incompetence and greed keeps them from accomplishing any of the things they claim to want to accomplish. If they'd built this... bike path with dirt for something reasonable like $15 million, then yeah, this would serve as a model for building additional bridges.

But at a cost of $114 million and climbing for one incomplete bridge? No. You have once again fucked everything up for everyone, including the animals.

But you'll all still get paid, right? That's the important thing.

Right Angle News Network @Rightanglenews

1h

BREAKING - Gavin Newsom's wildlife "bridge to nowhere," promised to cost California taxpayers $50 million in 2022, has more than doubled to $114 million and it's still unfinished.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:33 PM

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