Tractors mowing the roadsides in Illinois

Greenfrog · Nov 30, 2018

This is sort of OT, but I am sort of on a rant:
I traveled across Illinois today and from Jacksonville to Champaign and I noticed at least 8 tractors ( state highway maintenance crew) mowing the dry grass along the highway and there is SNOW on the ground! Is this really necessary at this time of the year?? And Illinois is out of money!

504 · Nov 30, 2018

They should mow the shoulders, but leave the banks to catch the snow. Fence row to fence row should be done in late August.

Steve@Advance · Nov 30, 2018

This is just a guess...

The mowing crews are contracted to mow so much area so many times a year, regardless of the need.

To be in compliance with their contract they have to do what they were hired to do.

JD Seller · Nov 30, 2018

Well IF you want all the snow to drift on the roads worse then do not mow the grass along it.

The tree hugger bunch got the states to leave the grass unmowed for "wild life" habitat. So they do not mow it until much later then they used to do it.

So is it better to mow the grass along the road and use less salt??? Or "save" the money on mowing and use more slat an have more snow to plow on the road?

So I would wait to "rant" until I had more information. LOL

Iowa mowed the entire median and two passes along the sides just a few weeks ago here. All summer long they only mowed a narrow strip on each side of the median and one pass on the sides. It made pulling out of my drive way a little dangerous in a car. You could not see the traffic to the North very well. I mowed about 1/4 mile to the North of my drive and got my butt chewed on by one of the Iowa DOT inspectors. I "ruined" the wild life" habitat there. LOL

matthies · Nov 30, 2018

In Nebraska they keep the first 15 feet mowed during the summer and then 15 more feet in the fall after the grass has stopped growing or slowed down. Also further out in spots like JD Seller mentioned to keep the snow moving.

Leroy · Nov 30, 2018

The mower drivers are county or state employes and when not mowing they are working at different jobs like triming brush in fence rows along the road, putting in sewers across road or driving the snow plows. Not contracted.

Stephen Newell · Nov 30, 2018

Maybe that is one of the reasons the state is broke. Here in Texas they maybe mow along the highway once or twice a year. They prefer to spray a herbicide instead.

flying belgian · Nov 30, 2018

Right on JD. We set aside hundreds of thousands acres of preserves for wild life to live on. Don't need deer jumping out in front of my car or fowl surprising me and causing traffic to swerve to miss it.

gab · Nov 30, 2018

Wife showed me a poster from Facebook the other day, said make Illinois great again, build the wall. Then it showed the wall built around Chicago, which don't sound like a bad idea to me.

BarryfromIA · Dec 1, 2018

Did you memorize face his for when comes back and wants to hunt your ground. Them people have no idea how much wildlife the average farm supports.

DPittman · Dec 1, 2018

All the replies about snow drifting because of tall grass and contractors and other things would be valid points in some states, but in the Land of Lincoln that I love so much if there's a way for road crews to waste my money they will find it. Case in point, any time we get a snow on a weekend or a holiday, normally regardless of how much, they will be out in force with their blades and their salt until that said weekend or holiday is over, keeping in mind the roads may have been dry 24 hours ago. Not passable, but DRY. I do appreciate my highway workers being there when it gets really bad and I have seen storms when they did have to spend days trying to keep the roads passable and I don't mind em spending my money when it's necessary, just don't throw it away. Sorry for you the rant.

Billy Shafer · Dec 1, 2018

Not in Leon county. Over here they mow even in the mud. I was out yesterday noticed a line of mowers on the side road. You could see in the ditch were several got stuck. Just yank them out and try again.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 1, 2018

Don't follow your thinking around my area with lots of trees and grown up vegetation near the road snow will never drift and only drifts when there is a wide open field right beside the
road for the snow to drift from.

PJH · Dec 1, 2018

It's not unusual to find a "wide open field" in Illinois.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 1, 2018

I'm sure but it seems to me the tall weeds and whatever would slow the drifting not make it drift worse.

showcrop · Dec 1, 2018

(quoted from post at 06:20:23 12/01/18) All the replies about snow drifting because of tall grass and contractors and other things would be valid points in some states, but in the Land of Lincoln that I love so much if there's a way for road crews to waste my money they will find it. Case in point, any time we get a snow on a weekend or a holiday, normally regardless of how much, they will be out in force with their blades and their salt until that said weekend or holiday is over, keeping in mind the roads may have been dry 24 hours ago. Not passable, but DRY. I do appreciate my highway workers being there when it gets really bad and I have seen storms when they did have to spend days trying to keep the roads passable and I don't mind em spending my money when it's necessary, just don't throw it away. Sorry for you the rant.

Dpittman, two years ago I heard a town snowplow go banging by in the bright sunshine the day following a storm. I jumped up to see if there was still slush or something but no, the pavement was totally dry.

ss55 · Dec 1, 2018

Tall roadside grass will hold snow and form snow drifts on roadways. It might be easier to mow after the grass and weeds die down and dry out. It may be easier to avoid large roadside trash too. At least they are still mowing your roadsides. On many roads that is the landowners responsibility.

Greenfrog · Dec 1, 2018

Thx for all the replies and your interest. Illinois too I think has a mowing trend of one swipe along the edge of the highway and the medians, and leaving the rest of the prairie grasses and wildflowers alone. They are not all weeds! This too provides wildlife habitat. I just found it odd to see mowing being done in the snow!

Leroy · Dec 1, 2018

It does slow the drifting to deposite the snow right on the road. It doesn't blow across the road to the other side and keep going. If you have anything that will start a drift the drift starts about 10' from what ever started it and as time goes on that drift gets to be a hunderd feet long. That is why most snow fences do not work and just drop the snow in drive because they do not have them far enough back.

showcrop · Dec 2, 2018

(quoted from post at 20:47:21 12/01/18) It does slow the drifting to deposite the snow right on the road. It doesn't blow across the road to the other side and keep going. If you have anything that will start a drift the drift starts about 10' from what ever started it and as time goes on that drift gets to be a hunderd feet long. That is why most snow fences do not work and just drop the snow in drive because they do not have them far enough back.

Leroy, here in NH snowdrifts start immediately after whatever is breaking the wind, and yes, snow fence needs to be installed a good distance from the road or in a bad winter it will run out of room. In Northern Maine in a bad winer the road crews will go out into the potato fields and push up a drift to catch the snow.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 2, 2018

The Vineyards in my area have their wildflower plots mowed with a flail mower in the Winter to scatter the seed for the next year.Big business here wildflower plantings can cost over $10,000 an acre depending on what seed is planted.

Tractors mowing the roadsides in Illinois

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