Roadside vegetation handbook updated
Maintaining roadsides for safety and aesthetics is an important issue for all levels of government throughout Minnesota. In 2000, the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) published the Best Practices Handbook on Roadside Vegetation Management, which served as a valuable resource for maintenance and engineering staff and was used widely in Minnesota and other states. (Minnesota LTAP assisted with the handbook’s production.) The handbook’s popularity, as well as the availability of new information from recent research, led the LRRB and Mn/DOT to publish an update of the handbook last year.
The 2008 edition retains all information from the original that is still accurate. It also includes a new chapter— “Managing Roadside Vegetation for Wildlife and Vehicle Safety”—that reflects recent Mn/DOT research about roadside habitats and their effects on driver safety. The new chapter’s primary conclusion is that roadside habitats can be managed to balance biological diversity and safety by selectively reducing woody vegetation without entirely removing grass habitats.
The main conclusion from the handbook is that successful roadside vegetation management depends on an integrated approach. This includes a wide variety of best management practices to address the many issues involved.
Kathy Schaefer, the instructor of the Circuit Training and Assistance Program (CTAP), was a member of the technical advisory panel for the handbook update. She is using the handbook in CTAP classes in May. The handbook was also used in a session on integrated roadside vegetation management at the Minnesota Spring Maintenance Training Expo. In addition, Minnesota LTAP is offering a full-day workshop on the topic in spring 2010. The instructor will be Ann Johnson, a co-author of the handbook.
The handbook (2008-20) and a technical summary of the project (2008-20TS) are on the LRRB Web site.