Can’t stand that overgrown median near your neighborhood?
Don’t expect the Virginia Department of Transportation to mow it anytime soon. But if you want to, go ahead.
According to a story from the Virginian-Pilot, VDOT has cut its annual grass-cutting budget in half to $22 million. To pick up the slack, they have formalized a volunteer grass-cutting program for those who have an itching desire to don a blaze orange vest and tackle the turf.
But volunteers won’t be able to cut interstates or busy secondary roads because they are too dangerous.
Here is some more info from the article:
Farmers offered to run their tractors along rights of way near their fields. Rural residents with rotary mowers such as brush hogs wanted to tidy up their neighborhoods. Businesses offered their lawn service contractors to keep cutting up to the road’s shoulder.
VDOT granted them permission, but this year has formalized a volunteer grass-cutting program as part of Adopt-A-Highway for litter patrol.
Caldwell said he doesn’t have a feel yet for how popular the program will be because grass-cutting season just started, and VDOT only recently began publicizing volunteer mowing.
“We want to work with folks who have a civic-minded desire to help out with the maintenance of the highways,” he said.
Can’t stand that overgrown median near your neighborhood?
Don’t expect the Virginia Department of Transportation to mow it anytime soon. But if you want to, go ahead.
According to a story from the Virginian-Pilot, VDOT has cut its annual grass-cutting budget in half to $22 million. To pick up the slack, they have formalized a volunteer grass-cutting program for those who have an itching desire to don a blaze orange vest and tackle the turf.
But volunteers won’t be able to cut interstates or busy secondary roads because they are too dangerous.
Here is some more info from the article:
Farmers offered to run their tractors along rights of way near their fields. Rural residents with rotary mowers such as brush hogs wanted to tidy up their neighborhoods. Businesses offered their lawn service contractors to keep cutting up to the road’s shoulder.
VDOT granted them permission, but this year has formalized a volunteer grass-cutting program as part of Adopt-A-Highway for litter patrol.
Caldwell said he doesn’t have a feel yet for how popular the program will be because grass-cutting season just started, and VDOT only recently began publicizing volunteer mowing.
“We want to work with folks who have a civic-minded desire to help out with the maintenance of the highways,” he said.
Gee, in the Netherlands, for years the Highway Dept has “leased” the median and road sides to farmers who “harvest” hay. The farmers pay the state for the hay, the farmers pay income taxes, and the state gets the grass cut without costs to the taxpayer’s budget Of course the farmer’s field is not a square or even a rectangle, and it could be 10 feet wide by 10 miles long!
I guess VDOT is not very smart.