FREEWAY BRIDGE PROPOSED TO PROTECT WILDLIFE.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

Picture a footbridge that would help animals safely cross the Ventura Freeway without getting hit by traffic.

Or perhaps an underground tunnel between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains, to help them make safe passage.

This is the vision of ecologist Paul Edelman, one he says will save some of the dozens of deer, coyotes and bobcats that die each year as they cross urban streets and highways to reach the mountains. And he thinks it could be in place within 10 years.

``We want a wildlife bridge - something either over the freeway or below it,'' Edelman said.

As one of the first steps, Edelman is working to get a $330,000 grant that would be used to buy nearly three acres needed to create a Liberty Canyon Wildlife Corridor. The four parcels are along Liberty Canyon Road, south of the Ventura Freeway in Agoura Hills, Edelman said.

But plans for an actual crossing will not begin until the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy gets a couple million dollars to buy 106 acres off Agoura Road, Edelman said. That area would provide the ``landing'' for one side of the bridge or tunnel, he said.

It also would create an open stretch between Malibu Creek State Park and Chesebro Canyon.

Rorie Skei, the conservancy's Rim of the Valley division chief, said the land should be protected as open space before development closes all possible links from one wildlife area to the other. Only four other crossings exist between Camarillo and Calabasas, and the Agoura Hills spot has been chosen as the best place for the project, Edelman said.

``Further development would forever close it to animals who want to get across,'' Skei said. ``If it's a successful grant, it would be one more piece of the wildlife puzzle put into place. It's small but significant.''

Edelman estimated that about 40 deer, 25 bobcats, 75 coyotes, a few gray foxes and even a badger or two could use the crossing each year.

A study showed that 25 deer, two bobcats, 19 coyotes and one gray fox were killed from 1984 through 1989 while trying to cross the freeway, many of them walking along Liberty Canyon Road.

Edelman said that could be cut down by at least a third once a bridge of some sort is in place.

Though putting in a footbridge or tunnel for animals sounds like a new concept, Edelman said Germany and Holland have had animal bridges for years. In addition, Florida has provided tunnels to allow the Florida panther and black bear to travel, and Montana has done the same for elk, he said.

Once land has been secured as open space, either through purchase or development agreement, the conservancy will decide whether to pursue a bridge or tunnel, Edelman said.

To put in a tunnel, the conservancy would have to buy yet another parcel that sits lower than the freeway, Edelman said. That project would cost $2 million. A bridge would cost about $4 million, he said.

``We wouldn't decide for a couple years,'' Edelman said. ``It really depends on the political climate and funding.''

But Edelman said he was confident that the project could be complete within two to 10 years.

Skei agreed, saying the conservancy has made steady progress since a 1990 study found Liberty Canyon to be the best spot for a link.

``We've made more progress than I ever thought we'd make in six years,'' Skei said.

The greatest reward will come years after a crossing has been built, Edelman said. Eventually, animals will trace their tracks, leave their scent and show their young how to cross to the mountains safely, he said.

``There will still be road kill, but there will be a lot more successes,'' Edelman said. ``Over time, they will learn.''