FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan McCauley
650-772-3644, rmccauley@openspace.org
California Awards $4 Million to Midpen for Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Connectivity Project
The project in Santa Clara County will help connect 30,000 acres of wildlife habitat and 50 miles of regional trails
Los Altos, CA—The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (Midpen) has secured $4 million from the California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), providing critical funding to the Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Crossings Project.
This funding will go directly towards the construction of a trail overcrossing above Highway 17 and associated trails in El Sereno Open Space Preserve.
The overcrossing will close a difficult gap in the 550-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail across Highway 17 and connect over 50 miles of existing regional trails. It is envisioned to serve pedestrians, bicyclists, equestrians and dogs on leash from Midpen’s El Sereno Open Space Preserve to the popular Los Gatos Creek Trail, Lexington Reservoir County Park and Midpen’s St. Joseph’s Hill Open Space Preserve.
“We are incredibly grateful to the State Coastal Conservancy for the value they place in providing safe connections for both wildlife and people,” said Midpen General Manager Ana María Ruiz. “This grant moves us one step closer to fulfilling a decades-long vision: seamlessly connecting over 30,000 acres of open space for wildlife and vast mileages of trail for people that make our region such a special place to live.”
This grant was part of a larger announcement from the State Coastal Conservancy authorizing over $94 million to 17 projects to conserve land, expand public access to the coast and enhance coastal resilience to climate change. The funding is made possible from Proposition 4 (the 2024 Climate Bond) and California Coastal Resilience funds.
“The Highway 17 project is an excellent multi-benefit project, aligning with the public access and habitat connectivity goals of the State Coastal Conservancy,” explained Amy Hutzel, Executive Officer of the State Coastal Conservancy. “This project not only completes a critical gap in the 500-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail, but also provides a separate safe passage for wildlife between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range.”
The overcrossing is paired with a separate wildlife undercrossing structure, connecting 30,000 acres of protected public open space lands and several miles of wildlife directional fencing, funneling wildlife toward the undercrossing. This wildlife crossing will provide safe passage for a variety of wildlife species seeking new territories including mountain lions and black-tailed deer.
Highway 17 carries an average of 75,000 daily vehicles, creating a deadly impediment across a vital ecological corridor identified by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as the top priority barrier to wildlife connectivity in the Bay Area. The location of the wildlife undercrossing was determined through wildlife-vehicle collision and GPS data from collared mountain lions.
The total estimated cost for the complete buildout of the project is approximately $40 million, with direct construction costs estimated at $36.4 million. Midpen is leveraging its voter-approved Measure AA bond funds ($11.16 million) alongside other public and private grant sources.
This project necessarily crosses boundaries and jurisdictional borders, requiring multi-agency coordination. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is serving as project delivery partner leveraging their expertise in transportation projects. Midpen is closely coordinating with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Santa Clara County Parks, Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) and the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council.
Habitat connectivity functions as the ecological life support system for California’s biodiversity, transforming fragmented islands of open space into continuous, safe migration corridors essential for genetic health and climate resilience. The Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Crossings Project is one of many initiatives underway across the state to help restore safe passages for a sustainable future.
By connecting over 30,000 acres of protected open space on both sides of Highway 17, the project will significantly reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, preserve regional biodiversity and advance outdoor recreational access.