Duffy mocks Newsom’s ‘bridges to nowhere’ as California wildlife crossing overruns by $21M

By Fox News · Fox News

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy bashed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom over an unfinished wildlife crossing bridge in the Golden State that is running $21 million over budget. Duffy shared a post from the X account End Wokeness showing video of the unfinished project stretching across 10 lanes of the 101 Freeway in Southern California. The video shows the incomplete bridge, which is intended to provide safe passage for animals such as cougars to cross over the highway. "Bridges to nowhere. Trains to nowhere. Leave the building to us @GavinNewsom," Duffy wrote on X. Construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC) was supposed to be wrapped up by 2025, with the total cost of the project estimated at $92 million. That cost estimate has since jumped to $114 million. A press release from the governor's office states the project should be completed by fall 2026. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER IN FATAL CALIFORNIA CRASH SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD LICENSE: DOT REPORT At the groundbreaking ceremony held in April 2022, Newsom pledged $54 million of state funding to build the crossing and later added another $10 million. However, in February, the California Transportation Commission announced it was allocating an additional $18.8 million to complete construction. Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation, the namesake of the bridge, provided $25 million for its construction in 2021. Beth Pratt, director of the National Wildlife Federation and part of the leadership team overseeing the project, attributed delays in the project's construction to rising costs in a video posted to X . Pratt said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the crossing project "experienced significant increases in costs" related to "tariffs, inflation and other factors" that were responsible for delayed construction. MARYLAND BRIDGE REBUILD COSTS SOAR TO $5.2B, MORE THAN DOUBLE ORIGINAL ESTIMATE OFFICIALS PROVIDED She added that these increased costs were consistent with other…