Advocates Push for East End Turtle Crossing Road Signs

Wildlife advocates successfully lobbied local leaders to install road signs across the East End that urge drivers to watch for and yield to turtles that may be crossing busy streets.

One hundred diamond-shaped black-and-yellow signs warning drivers of turtle crossings are going up on certain town-owned roads that advocates say have become roadkill hot spots in the towns of Riverhead and Southold.

“I hope our signs will make a difference,” said Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons President Karen Testa, who said she has been trying to get the signs installed since establishing the nonprofit 12 years ago. “I think people do slow down when they see deer crossing signs … I’m so happy that the towns understand the importance of turtles to the ecosystem.”

The turtle advocacy group provided 20 turtle-crossing signs to the highway superintendents of all five East End town governments, including Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island following meetings with Testa set up by Andy Sabin, an amphibian enthusiast and one of the founders of the South Fork History Museum.

“A lot of people come out from the city and they’re not aware that turtles are crossing the road,” he said, urging drivers who yield to turtles to gently pick them up and carry them to the other side. “Now when they see our turtle signs, they’ll look for them hopefully.”

Testa said Riverhead has already placed a few signs on roads in Manorville near Swan Lake where turtles are active and signs are also being installed on Osborne Avenue.

“There’s marshland near us and we are trying to help Karen because she has a good cause,” said Riverhead Town Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski. “Unfortunately, people speed and they don’t always see turtles.”

Southold Town Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin agreed.

“We hope in general that the signs help people think about the things that are not expected on our roads, whether it’s deer, a domestic animal or a turtle,” he said. “Hopefully it changes the mindset that we have a lot of critters that live out here and they’ll slow down and the signs will have a positive impact.”