Why is it necessary to cut the grass on the sides of highways or the median strips?
I’m assuming there’s a reason other than aesthetics. Seems like it takes a fair amount of work to do the work, and it causes some disruption to traffic as they usually have to close a lane to do it.
But it also seems like it would be better for wildlife to leave the higher grass.
Is it safety? Visibility? Fire prevention? Anyone know?
In: Engineering
Mainly aesthetic reasons
Outside of butterflies, birds, bees we don’t want to encourage wildlife to try and get to the middle of a highway
It’s safer for animals (dogs/deer mainly) to mow the grass. Reduces the desireability to try and hang out there and increases visibility for drivers to see them if they decide to run out into the road. Its not perfect by any means, but gives better chances for drivers to avoid them.
It can also help with maintaining the highway. Tree roots can run close to the surface and break up the road surface. Mowing the shoulders and medians keeps trees from growing in those areas right next to the road.
And doing something for aesthetics isn’t a bad thing. A nice clean and well kept area does a lot to help people’s mood. I know I enjoy driving down a well kept litter free highway a lot more than one that is overgrown with trash all over the place.
It is mostly safety. Obviously you need to mow the grass around corners, especially at intersections, so that the car drivers can see each other. But even on the straight sections you have animals and sometimes kids and drunks in the median who might wander into the road without much notice. By mowing the grass drivers can see these and take evasive action. And sometimes cars crashes into the median and may be hidden by the tall grass making it harder to rescue them.
There are also seedlings for bushes and trees growing in the median. If these are allowed to grow they might become big enough to stop a car. If a car crashes into the median and hits one of these trees they will instantly stop and do more damage to the car and occupants rather then slide along the grass slowing down more gently. Mowing the grass prevents these seedling from growing into full size trees and bushes.
Some maintenance crews do mow the highways more often then is needed for safety. And this have more to do with aesthetics. But this is not the primary reason. They would need to mow even if they did not care about the aesthetics, just maybe not just as often.
Many reasons. Depends on where you are, but the rough order of importance is:
* Aesthetics (funny quote: when asked why the medians are mowed, Susan S. Barton, an adviser to the state’s Department of Transportation, said “We’re doing it so when you’re driving around Delaware you know you’re in Delaware, not in the tropics”)
* Visibility (tall grass rarely blocks your view but it can obscure the contour of the highway; even a 1% drop in visibility, multiplied by tens or hundreds of thousands of cars a day, can mean more accidents)
* Wildlife (small mammals nest in tall grass; we don’t want them hit, for their sake. Deer eat grass; we *really* don’t want them hit, for their sake and ours).
* Drainage (We often encourage grass because it helps the soil retain water. Around a highway, you want the water to run away easily, so lots of thick vegetation can be bad)
* Fire safety (tall dry grass lets wildfires spread easily; by removing it, highways act as a barrier to wildfire spread. Roadsides are one of the most common spots for lit cigarettes to be discarded, and wildfires can start if it lands in tall, dry grass)
* Accessibility (If new signage or road repair is required, thick vegetation can hamper construction efforts)
* Emergency stops (short grass allows a vehicle to pull fully off the highway if needed)
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