The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is working with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to remove certain vegetation near roads and highways that cause visibility issues and road blockages.
The Alaska DOT says uncontrolled roadside plants and trees can obstruct motorists’ vision or limit just how much of the road they actually see. The department does this upkeep every year.
Communications Officer for the Alaska Department of Transportation Jeremy Woodrow says DOT looks after all the highways in the state. He says this program, which takes all summer, is for the safety of both humans and animals-- when the vegetation is particularly overgrown, wildlife can jump in front of cars at the very last second, giving the driver no chance to react.
Woodrow says although the management is taking place all over the state, the methods vary depending on the area.
“Most of the state we use mechanical methods which can either be large vehicles with trimmers on them that can take off small trees on the side of roadways or even just taking out grasses. Other times it can actually result down to pulling weeds by hand if they are an invasive species. Another thing the department has been moving into is using herbicides in controlled areas, using herbicides that target specific species and reduce the amount of effort that has to be put into controlling the vegetation on the roadways.”
The department will be removing and disposing of vegetation that attracts wildlife to the roadside, removing fallen trees to enable easy access for snow and ice removal maintenance.
Woodrow says there is a financial benefit to controlling the plant life on the sides of roads.
“Removing vegetation from the road way also helps preserves the life of the pavement, which means that’s less maintenance costs for the state as a whole as we take care of our roadways.”
The Alaska DOT oversees 5,619 miles of highway in the state. The DOT and Alaska Department of Fish and Game recently joined together to form the Wildlife and Highways Workgroup in the hopes of promoting travel safety. The group wants to provide Alaska with economically sound plans to design and operate Alaska’s highways while not negatively effecting the wildlife population.