Highways, roads, and bridges are used by thousands of people daily throughout the United States. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there are more than 4 million miles of public road in the U.S. Interruptions of any kind to these roadways can be catastrophic, and regular maintenance by state departments of transportation, local street departments, and other public transit agencies can help prevent potentially dangerous events from happening.
There is a large checklist to take into account when it comes to public roadway maintenance. Safety, accessibility, and efficiency are typically the priority goals for transportation systems that can be achieved through a number of solutions.
Vegetation Management Solutions
Trees, shrubs, grasses, and other vegetation that blocks visibility for passengers and drivers can become safety concerns, create logistical issues, and more. Choosing plant species that reduce safety risks, strategically planting them and maintaining them while controlling undesirable species including noxious and invasive species long-term can help roadways stay safe and accessible.
Along with safety, transportation systems can choose native seed mixes to create natural environments for birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators to contribute to the local ecosystem.
As an example, Davey Resource Group (DRG) was contracted by the Michigan Department of Transportation to plant wildflower beds and replace trees that had been removed for a modernization project along Interstate Highway 75. The goal of the project was to replace the vegetation buffer between the interstate and adjacent neighborhoods. Read more about the project here.
Environmental Consulting Solutions
Compliance can be complicated for entities in charge of public roads. For example, bridge construction over a wetland or federally protected area can cause schedule delays that can become costly. By starting construction projects with wetland delineations and surveys for threatened and endangered plant and animal species and other environmental resources, transportation systems can avoid delays or hiccups in progress.
Identification of protected resources is the first step in most permitting processes that may occur during construction. Delineation and surveys can help transportation systems receive any permits they need with more ease.
In New Jersey, DRG helped the department of transportation meet several environmental standards during a causeway replacement project on Route 52. This included preparing the Natural Ecosystem Technical Study, the ecology sections of the NEPA EIS, obtaining all state and federal environmental permits, and wetland delineation for the entire project area. Read more about the project here.
Transportation Engineering Solutions
With such a large number of people traversing public highways and roadways daily, any error when planning can have catastrophic consequences. Traffic corridors, interchanges, intersections, and signals can help motorists navigate roadways safely, but these elements require continued maintenance and improvements. By conducting traffic impact studies and budgeting for improvement projects, transportation agencies can ensure the safety of the motorists on their public roads.
Davey Resource Group (DRG) recently added transportation engineering to their service offerings for public roadway agencies that can help meet the needs of communities while keeping roads safe. This includes safety studies, interchange design, traffic modeling, and more.
DRG works with cities, counties, state departments of transportation, and other entities to help create sustainable solutions for public road maintenance. To learn more about DRG’s transportation solutions, contact your local office.
