California Gov. Gavin Newsom is being ridiculed after an investigation found that he spent $114 million on a butterfly overpass that's over-budget and at least a year late.
City Journal’s Chris Rufo and Kenneth Schrupp exposed the boondoggle in a new story.
In 2022, Newsom broke ground on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing (WAWC) above the 101 Freeway in Southern California. The project was supposed to be finished in 2025. Taxpayers funded about $77 million of the project, City Journal reported.
The project aimed to create an overpass over 10 lanes of the highway so animals could cross.
Four years after the project was announced, it is the project is about $21 million over budget, City Journal reported. WAWC leader assured City Journal that the project wasn’t a boondoggle, and of course, she blamed President Donald Trump for the massive cost overrun.
“There’s no boondoggle,” she told City Journal. “Given the times we’re living in,” a potential $21 million overage is “not that bad.”
EXCLUSIVE: Gavin Newsom promised to build a bridge for cougars and butterflies in the middle of Los Angeles. The project has turned into another boondoggle, with broken deadlines and costs exploding to $114 million.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) March 18, 2026
This is Newsom's bridge to nowhere.https://t.co/xgdc3R5lwB
It's not just the cost. This monstrosity is on its 4th year of construction. https://t.co/zflKI3rGb9
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 18, 2026
Newsom is running for president in 2028.
Why is Newsom directing $77M in taxes for this $114M cougar crossing?
— Kenneth Schrupp (@kennethschrupp) March 18, 2026
Watch Newsom share his hero (villain?) origin story, of his father seeming to put a pet otter over Gavin (he named Gavin after a famous otter-raising environmentalist), then founding CA's cougar movement. https://t.co/JJteokPZXx pic.twitter.com/t8wcF3rkUh
The craziest thing about Newsom's $100 million wildlife bridge is that it will allow cougars, an apex predator, direct access into a suburban neighborhood filled with pets, children, and the elderly. It's like the radical environmentalist version of The Purge. pic.twitter.com/KqUKaBlyyf
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) March 18, 2026
People like to claim that Gavin Newsom will be a formidable candidate for President, but his future run will be complicated by simple observations like "You've spent $100B+ tax dollars on a train that hasn't been built, another $100M+ on a 'wildlife crossing' to nowhere, and… https://t.co/3pgm5wV6Qk
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 18, 2026
This is the lady responsible for diverting MILLIONS of your taxpayer dollars to a cougar bridge instead of wildfire fuel mitigation, so mountain lions can cross the 101 & eat your pets in Agoura Hills, then burn up in Woolsey 2.0. Outstanding article by Rufo and @kennethschrupp https://t.co/FYqDgip7VZ pic.twitter.com/TjyPBPXxIO
— Mann Made Cinema (@Hotshot_Movie) March 18, 2026
Gavin Newsom is spending $100 million on a butterfly bridge, funneling cash to left-wing activists who spent months "roaming the Santa Monica mountains" in "sacred solitude," collecting seeds and berries.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) March 18, 2026
This is how they're spending your money. pic.twitter.com/Ro2V8Fkg5F
The picture on the left is the old Seven Mile Bridge in Key West that was built a century ago and has been decommissioned since its replacement was built in 1980.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 18, 2026
Newsom's moronic staffers think that's somehow similar to the $100M 'wildlife bridge' they've failed to build. https://t.co/ewu2m5tC8O
Another Newsom scam. What’s new?
— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) March 18, 2026
They spend millions, deliver nothing — and expect you not to notice.
The same thing is happening at City Hall. That’s why I’ll open the books, expose every dollar, and end the waste. https://t.co/WMSechk6Hh
Tfw you're trying to build a bridge for wild animals and realizing that you're about to waste more than $100 million pic.twitter.com/H7UvzwwGss
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) March 18, 2026