Call it the natural look, or call it unkempt. Either way, if
you’re driving across the country this summer, you’ll notice that the highways
have a new appearance. In many states they’ll be a bit more overgrown than in
the past.
We’ve dealt with vegetation
management in past issues
of Erosion Control; one of the tradeoffs of using plants for
erosion control is the cost of keeping them in check. If you have trees growing
near power lines, you have to make sure branches can’t fall and snap them,
potentially causing a blackout. And if you plant anything near roadways, you
have to make sure it doesn’t grow so high that it blocks driver visibility.
Routine maintenance has become more difficult,
though, because many states rely on fuel taxes to fund it. The state of the
economy has meant people are cutting back on unnecessary trips. Even some things
that should be good for the environment, like the growing number of
fuel-efficient vehicles and hybrids, are gouging into states’ highway
maintenance budgets.
Some
states, such as Iowa, had already begun to plant roadside areas with more native
prairie grasses and wildflowers that require less mowing, and others like
Wisconsin have opted for a “natural” rather than a manicured look for decades.
While states still try to perform needed maintenance at crossings and
intersections, overall there will be less mowing and trimming, with shaggier
roadside shoulders and higher growth than many motorists are used to.
Delaware
is one state that has recently announced cutbacks in mowing. In an interview a spokesman for the Delaware Department of Transportation noted that the
department has received complaints, and it sends a crew out to mow if someone
reports a problem like decreased visibility. As with so many other tasks, such
as stormwater system maintenance, roadside vegetation management seems to be shifting to a reactive rather than
periodic or proactive mode.