State works to enhance safety of area roads

January 10, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - A piece of heavy equipment lumbers down the road with what looks like a metal platform at the end of an extension. A hydraulic system lifts the platform sideways, revealing a massive circular saw blade. The spinning blade then moves parallel to the ground, aiming toward trees and brush growing in the ditch and hurling splinters and chunks of wood through the air.

The brush cutter slices into everything in its path: from thick alders to lone spruce, from burly cottonwood trunks to birch saplings. As the heavy equipment pulls to the next section of road, the open swath left behind opens a clear vista for drivers.

Two crews from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities have been removing roadside brush along the Old Glenn Highway and Knik River Road, taking advantage of snowless weather in responding to residents' complaints about trees blocking their view as they drive, according to Mat-Su DOT District Superintendent Kurt Devon. Traditionally, DOT removes brush in the rights of way of state roads using the hydraulic ax, or hydro-ax, method, but when willow trees take over cleared areas, they create a browsing area for moose. And one potential problem stemming from drivers not being able to see around trees is replaced by another - moose loitering near the highway.

DOT, in mid October, created the integrated vegetation management coordinator position, to address this problem.

&#8220DOT for almost 30 years on roadsides has done nothing but mechanical cutting. The main concern is sight management - if you're driving down a two-lane highway and you're in a passing zone with a curve ahead, you want to be able to see far enough ahead to know if you can pass safely,” according to Larry Johnson, the recently hired integrated vegetation management coordinator, who will create a policy for the entire state.

&#8220Moose are a big problem along roads in Mat-Su area and sections of Kenai Peninsula,” he said. &#8220The moose are a concern because there's a high moose population in those areas. We don't want to attract the moose with good browse, but if the choice were between that and allowing the growth of taller willow that would screen the moose out completely, we would opt to cut it at least to be able to see the moose.”

On the Kenai Peninsula, DOT used bulldozers in the ROW ditches to entirely remove tree roots and reseed with Arctic red fescue, a grass that isn't viewed as a roadside moose buffet and offers supreme highway visibility, according to Gary Olson of the Alaska Moose Federation.

That solution lasted 10 to 12 years, before crews had to go in and again cut offending trees, Olson said.

However, the reseeding method is only used when road reconstruction takes place, Devon said.

The Old Glenn Highway is slated for widening and slight straightening, with construction beginning in spring 2007, but it's not likely that Arctic red fescue would be planted in the ditches because that would require wider rights of ways and, therefore, additional land acquisitions, Devon said.

As Johnson begins the work on creating DOT's roadside vegetation policy, he plans to mix a number of methods - based on the cost of each task, how long the solution lasts, what kind of soil is present in the ditch and protecting the road bed.

&#8220We will use a mix of control methods with mechanical cutting, such as herbicides, biological controls, pathogens that keep out unwanted species like noxious and invasive weeds and hand-pulling,” Johnson said.

&#8220Part of the problem is we've got a good handle on the initial cost. For example, clearing a steep slope takes longer and is more expensive to clear than level areas. The critical thing is, how long do different methods of brush removal last? We don't have data on how long the treatment is going to last,” Johnson said.

DOT will also network with both the Wasilla and Palmer Soil and Water Conservation Districts to help determine what factors assist growth and how to maintain the soil supporting the pavement on the highway.

The Alaska Moose Federation also works with the department in roadside rehabilitation, focusing on eliminating species like willow and cottonwood that moose find so appealing.

&#8220We're trying to encourage Mat-Su DOT to manipulate habitat to get moose off the roads, away from feeding in ditches near roads,” AMF executive director Olson said.

The reseeding project creates long-term savings, especially since hitting a moose with a vehicle can be life-threatening and expensive, Olson said.

&#8220The record in the Valley is four moose in one hour, right off Church Road,” Olson said.

Having a clear view along highways, which helps drivers spot moose in ditches, will remain top priority for eradicating roadside brush, Johnson said.

&#8220I think this is a positive development rather than sticking with brush cutting only, we will try to be systematic,” Johnson said. &#8220This isn't something where you can turn on a switch and next year, it'll be different.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252 or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.