The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will allow mountain lions, bobcats and other wildlife to travel between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains over a 10-lane freeway.

The 165-foot-wide crossing spans 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon Road, connecting the Santa Monica Mountains with the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains.

The wildlife crossing marked a milestone this year as the bridge took shape over Highway 101. Here's what comes next.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, coastal sage scrub plant species native to the Santa Monica Mountains will be plentiful on the bridge — part of a broader ecological restoration ...

The park embarked on the two-year project, funded by Snap, Inc., the Santa Monica Mountains Fund, and Re:wild, to restore 10,000 trees and 90,000 herbs and shrubs to five sites in Santa Monica ...

There weren't vehicles to divert, underground creeks that required stabilization, majestic oaks that had to be saved or soils ...

Soil scientists have been engaged in the extensive preparations for the crossing's next chapter, ... the "species native to the Santa Monica Mountains," will be added to the habitat down the road.

The one-acre habitat bridge will connect long-isolated wildlife areas of the Santa Monica Mountains. ... 6,000 cubic yards of a “super” soil followed by the planting of 5,000 native flora.

After the soil is placed, the next leg of work is expected to be done in May, which includes planting about 5,000 native plants that will grow into a habitat for mountain lions, deer, bats, desert ...

Recent wildfires in Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains have made way for non-native plant growth, ... It provides many ecosystem services like carbon storage, reduction of soil erosion, ...

Researchers have estimated that the mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains could become extinct within 50 years. The lions are largely isolated due to freeways that act as barriers ...

According to the National Wildlife Federation, coastal sage scrub plant species native to the Santa Monica Mountains will be plentiful on the bridge — part of a broader ecological restoration ...