California Wildlife Crossing Budget Overruns by $21M, Duffy Criticizes Newsom’s ‘Bridges to Nowhere’

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has criticized California Governor Gavin Newsom over budget overruns and delays affecting the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Southern California. The wildlife bridge, which spans 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, is now $21 million over its original budget.

“Bridges to nowhere. Trains to nowhere. Leave the building to us @GavinNewsom,” Duffy wrote on social media platform X, sharing footage of the incomplete structure designed to provide safe passage for wildlife, particularly mountain lions.

Originally budgeted at $92 million with completion expected by 2025, the project’s cost has now ballooned to $114 million. According to the governor’s office, the completion date has been pushed back to fall 2026, representing a delay of approximately one year.

The wildlife crossing has received significant state investment. At the April 2022 groundbreaking ceremony, Governor Newsom pledged $54 million in state funding, later adding an additional $10 million. In February, the California Transportation Commission allocated a further $18.8 million to complete the project.

Private funding has also played a crucial role, with philanthropist Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation contributing $25 million in 2021. The project represents a public-private partnership aimed at preserving wildlife corridors in an increasingly urbanized landscape.

Beth Pratt, director of the National Wildlife Federation and part of the project’s leadership team, attributed the delays and cost increases to economic factors including “tariffs, inflation and other factors.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, she emphasized that such increases were consistent with broader trends in infrastructure development.

“These increased costs were consistent with other construction projects,” Pratt said, citing the Federal Highway Administration’s National Highway Construction Cost Index, which indicates highway construction costs have risen 67% since 2021. She noted that the project team had undergone a “rigorous redesign process” to reduce expenses, with redesign costs covered by private donations rather than public funds.

Governor Newsom’s office has pushed back against criticism, pointing to former President Trump’s tariffs as a contributing factor to the rising costs. “The cost estimate held until last year when inflation — in part driven by TRUMP’s TARIFFS — increased construction costs. The increase is vastly LOWER than the 67% national average increase in highway construction costs,” the governor’s team stated on X.

Newsom’s office also cited “severe weather” last year as a significant factor in the timeline shift, arguing that a one-year delay on a five-year project is not excessive.

The scrutiny of the wildlife crossing comes amid broader questions about California’s infrastructure projects. Last year, the Department of Transportation canceled $4 billion in federal funding after the state spent $15 billion on high-speed rail construction without completing any track. This cancellation highlighted ongoing concerns about project management and fiscal responsibility in California’s infrastructure initiatives.

The wildlife bridge controversy unfolds against the backdrop of California’s projected $2.9 billion budget deficit for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, adding pressure on Governor Newsom, who is considered a potential presidential candidate for 2028.

When completed, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be one of the world’s largest wildlife bridges, designed to reconnect an ecosystem fragmented by Southern California’s extensive highway network. Wildlife crossings have proven effective in reducing animal-vehicle collisions in other regions while helping to maintain genetic diversity among wildlife populations isolated by human infrastructure.