The largest wildlife bridge in the US has finally opened in San Antonio, Texas.
On December 1, construction barriers on the Robert L.B. Tobin Land Bridge, which connects the east and the west of Phil Hardberger Park, were finally lifted at around 1 pm.
According to the former mayor of San Antonio and president of the park’s conservancy, Phil Hardberger, the successful opening of the wildlife bridge comes after 10 years of hard work.
“It’s kind of a little burden off your shoulders if you have a job that takes 10 years to complete,” Hardberger said in the San Antonio Report. “But in addition to that, it’s a great pleasure to kind of help tie people in San Antonio back to nature.”
The construction began in November 2018 after it was approved by San Antonio City Council. The 150-foot-wide structure allows people and wildlife alike to safely travel from one side of the park to the other.
Moreover, Hardberger added that the wildlife bridge is covered in trees and greenery, including a number of plants that could already be found in the park, rather than introducing plants not local to the area.
“It should look pretty good by the spring, but it would probably be at its optimum after two or three years. Then it’s going to look exactly like the surrounding parts of the park,” he said.
It’s expected that the bridge will significantly help reduce the number of wildlife-related crashes on the busy parkway while making it easier for the animals to reach their watering holes.