The New England Central Railroad and Engineers Construction Inc, which was hired to do the work, have built 15 turtle crossings in Vernon to allow endangered spotted turtles to cross between wetland and nest.
The crossings are turtle sized steel tunnels inserted under the rails.
"What happens is the turtles will get in between the two rails, and in the summertime if they are in there for too long, they will starve or bake in the sun," ECI Foreman Roger Hutchins told the Brattleboro Reformer.
"I guess they walk down the side of the rail until they find a crossing, with there being 15 of them, they are bound to find one of them," Drew Christiansen of ECI told the Reformer. "Every 40 feet is a turtle crossing and it's placed because there is a swamp on each side of the tracks, so they go back and forth to lay their eggs."
"This swamp in Vernon is one of the only places in the Northeast the turtle has been found," Christiansen said.
Charles Hunter, Assistant Vice President of Government Affairs for RailAmerica, which owns the railroad, said the work was part of the federally funded "high speed" upgrade to the route of Amtrak's Vermonter.
"We need to make certain accommodations for the environment, and the turtles were one of them. We were glad to put those crossings in so we don't interfere with their natural habitats and the way that they move about the area," Hunter told the Reformer.nger rail to improve connection times and spark economic growth.
For more information, see the Brattleboro Reformer article by Chris Garfolo
