Caltrans and National Park Service Retrofit Project Helps Wildlife Cross Highway 118 in Ventura County, California

Sierra Sun-Times –

Wildlife, large and small, are getting some help from their biologist friends at the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the National Park Service (NPS) to cross a dozen-mile stretch of State Route 118, a two-lane highway in Ventura County.  At the heart of the mitigation project are two goals: to create more habitat connectivity for diverse wildlife species and keep animals from becoming road kill.  Paul Caron, a Caltrans senior biologist, said the 118 is dangerous because the two-lane highway appears more benign to animals considering whether to cross it.  “Most animals won’t even try to cross the 101,” Caron said.  “All of these roads – the 126, 118, and others are all interconnected. What good is it if we just focus on the 101, when they all get killed on … the 118?”