State Abandons Wildlife Crossing Project, Citing Cost

An artist’s rendering of the proposed crossing Credit: Courtesy of VTrans

Vermont transportation officials have abandoned the idea of building a wildlife crossing under Interstate 89 and Route 2 near the Bolton-Waterbury town line, citing the high costs and other priorities.

Studies have shown the roadways to be a major obstacle to wildlife moving along the spine of the Green Mountains, particularly between the large forest blocks around Camel’s Hump and Mount Mansfield state forests.

The idea was to connect those large areas of habitat by widening an existing culvert, giving the moose, deer, bears, bobcats and other animals in the area a way to safely cross under the roads and reduce the risk of vehicle collisions. Route 2 and I-89 run parallel to one another from Williston to Montpelier.

But the $50 million price tag for the Sharkeyville Brook Wildlife Crossing has forced the state to rethink its plans, according to Joe Flynn, secretary of the Agency of Transportation.

“The project is not going to go forward at this time,” Flynn told Seven Days on Thursday. “It’s a fiscal reality situation.”

Officials had been planning to apply for a federal grant to help fund the project cost, Flynn said. But there was just $75 million in grants available for the entire nation, he said.

A bigger problem: Individual grants were capped at $25 million, Flynn said. Without a clear plan for raising the remainder, officials did not even apply for the federal money, Flynn said, describing it as a difficult decision.

Ponying up the other $25 million from VTrans’ existing budget would have “blown up our entire program,” Flynn said, and diverted money from higher-priority projects.

“This would be replacing something that currently isn’t failing,” Flynn said.

The existing five-foot-wide culvert in the Sharkeyville area allows a tributary of the Winooski River to flow through it. But state biologists say it’s too narrow to allow most animals to pass through, especially after it rains.

Flynn said the department still fully supports the idea. But VTrans would run the risk of needing to return the grant money if it couldn’t make up the difference with local funds.

Rep. Amy Sheldon (D-Middlebury) said she was disappointed to hear the news. By not even applying for the grant, she said, private groups never even had a chance to try and raise money to fund the balance.

The state received a $1.6 million federal grant in 2023 to design the crossing.

The decision comes at the same time that the University of Vermont released a study that found wildlife crossings under roadways can be extremely effective at reducing the deaths of frogs, salamanders and other migrating amphibians. A decade-long review of data found that amphibian underpasses installed in Monkton led to an 80 percent decrease in deaths.

The need for all species to be able to migrate more freely is widely viewed as vital to help wildlife adapt to new habitats as climate change alters the natural world.

Correction, May 30: A previous version of this story listed the incorrect hometown for Amy Sheldon.