Benefits of Synthetic Turf for Medians

One thing about grass you can rely on: as soon as it’s cut, it starts to grow again. And again. And again!

Maintaining the shoulders and median areas of America’s highways costs millions of dollars a year. Using artificial turf from Turfscape could eliminate that expense and protect highway workers from danger while mowing. [Disclosure: this post has been sponsored by our Green Franchise partner Turfscape]

Keeping the grass mowed along roads is about more than simple aesthetics. Tall grass has an impact on traffic safety in ways that most people don’t realize. Here are some of those ways.

• Tall grass can limit a driver’s view of the road ahead by making it more difficult to see around curves. Reducing accidents also reduces costs to the community for emergency and rescue services.
• Unkempt vegetation can encourage the growth of noxious invasive weeds.
• Tall grass along the shoulder of highways can grow up to and sometimes into the pavement itself, limiting the space available for motor vehicles.
• Tall grass can be a fire hazard. Not only the grass itself, but debris caught in the grass may be combustible as well.
• Untended vegetation can choke highway drainage ditches, causing the build up of rainwater on road surfaces. Drivers who hit unexpected puddles at highway speed can lose control of their vehicles.
• Unmowed grasses make removing debris along medians and shoulders more difficult.

A tractor and mowing rig for cutting grass along our nation’s highways can cost $50,000 or more. Then there is the expense of paying someone to operate it. Because grass grows so aggressively, once the mowing is complete, it’s time to turn around and mow it again.

Tractors burn fossil fuels, which means they spew unwanted carbon emissions into the atmosphere. They also require a great deal of expensive maintenance, adding more money to highway department budgets.

Artificial ground cover from Turfmaster eliminates tall grass and other vegetation, which enhances road safety and reduces road maintenance expense. It makes roadways more scenic and will pay for itself over time.

In summary, there are very good reasons for roadside mowing. While it might save some money not to mow, the net cost of not mowing is too great to eliminate this activity.

This post has been sponsored by our partner Turfscape, a green franchise opportunity; grass and highway image from BigStock