MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Drivers be warned: bears may try to cross Interstate 89 in Sharon.

The Vermont Transportation Agency has placed its first bear crossing signs on the interstate on either side of the road in Sharon.

Six to eight black bears have been hit by vehicles in that spot in the last four years, indicating the road intersects an area through which bears travel, officials said.

“Our environmental section working with ANR (Agency of Natural Resources) has identified a fairly extensive bear corridor that straddles the interstate,” said Steve Sherrill, traffic investigations supervisor. “They’re big animals, so the severity of a crash is likely to be high.”

The road is surrounded on either side by undeveloped land, which is habitat for a number of animals, said John Lapore, a biologist with the Transportation Agency. The top priority is get the animals across the road safely, he said.

“Moose and deer also have been hit. I figure if we put up a bear crossing it will gets people’s attention,” he said. “If the sign for a bear avoids a deer then we ultimately have done the right thing.”

The signs were erected last summer while the northbound section of road was repaved. They are part of a larger effort by the state to identify habitat and protect wildlife and drivers, Lapore said.

Bear collisions also became a problem on Route 103 in Mount Holly where signs were placed two years ago. And the state may need to warn drivers about the animals on Route 4 in Killington near Pico Mountain, Lapore said.

“Just a sighting doesn’t warrant a warning,” said Sherrill.

“When we identify a corridor, when it’s clear that they want to move from one side of the highway to other, we have quite a lot of crashes.”

The state makes sure to use signs with text rather than symbols of bear, deer or moose because the symbol signs tend to be stolen, Sherrill.

“The text signs have a better longevity,” he said.