The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will allow mountain lions, bobcats and other wildlife to travel between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains over a 10-lane freeway.

Construction crews began placing the first layers of soil over the surface of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway Monday morning.

After the soil is laid across the nearly 1-acre native wildlife habitat site, about 5,000 native shrubs and wildflowers collected from the surrounding area will be planted on the crossing.