I-30 median clearing in Arkansas

[Road Hog]

The formerly tree-filled median along I-30 is being cleared between Emmet and Gurdon, a distance of about 20 miles. It completely changes the scenic character of the freeway in that stretch.

http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_business/regional_news/article_65c089d8-93f8-11e9-9bbf-735f5b8db852.html

[sprjus4]

Driving this stretch of I-30 a few months back at night, I can say firsthand I appreciated the trees blocking the oncoming headlights. Really on any highway with median trees.

Closer to home in Virginia, I-64 between Richmond and Newport News had a median lined with trees and as apart of ongoing widening projects to 6-lanes, they are slowly being torn down section by section due to inside median widening. It definitely feels different driving the newly completed portions as far as landscaping and scenery goes, though these projects are badly needed so it's a price to pay.

But in the instance of Arkansas, I don't buy why they're doing it. If safety is an issue, tear down some trees to provide 20-30 feet of clearside, but no need to tear down the entire median.

[ozarkman417]

The gaps in the trees in the median of I-95 in Florida are essentially hideouts for cops, I don't know if they take advantage of that obscured line of sight elsewhere or not.

[Bobby5280]

I'm sure removing the trees in the I-30 median has to be a safety measure more than anything else. Taking a quick glance in Google Street View there are NO guard rails, cable barriers, etc on either the left or right sides of the road. If a vehicle loses control driving at full highway speed and leaves the road it is absolutely going to hit the living $#!+ out of one or more trees immediately after leaving the road. Anyone inside not buckled up is going to get fully launched.

That specific segment of I-30 is pretty far away from the Little Rock area. I-30 doesn't widen into a 3x3 urban freeway configuration until reaching the suburb of Benton SW of Little Rock. Nevertheless, looking at the long term situation (10, 20 or more years into the future), I-30 stands a very good chance of having to carry a whole lot more vehicle traffic. Texas will, at some point, complete its I-69 & I-369 legs up to Texarkana. That will dump a lot of traffic onto I-30. The freeway has tree-filled medians from Gurdon to nearly Texarkana. If the highway is going to be expanded to 3 or more lanes in each direction (as well as incorporate the latest safety standards) the trees in the median will have to go.

I don't like looking at oncoming headlights more than anyone else. Modern vehicles are particularly harsh. That even includes my own personal vehicle (a 2018 Chevy Silverado). Looking at those headlights and running lights is like staring into a movie theater's Xenon projection lamp house. Painful. It really sucks when some nincompoop can't bother to turn off his brights. Sometimes I feel like packing a laser pointer in my pickup's console to aim at an opposing motorists' retinas. I guess I could go to jail for that if I did it though. So I don't bother. Maybe we just have to wear our sunglasses at night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2LTL8KgKv8

[Plutonic Panda]

Thumbs down for this practice. Add guard rails if safety is the main issue but don't say there are environmental benefits to cutting these trees down.

[Chris]

It could be argued that a treeless median creates a firebreak in a forested area that is prone to wildfires. But Arkansas isn't particularly dry, isn't it?

[jeffandnicole]

I'm sure removing the trees in the I-30 median has to be a safety measure more than anything else. Taking a quick glance in Google Street View there are NO guard rails, cable barriers, etc on either the left or right sides of the road. If a vehicle loses control driving at full highway speed and leaves the road it is absolutely going to hit the living $#!+ out of one or more trees immediately after leaving the road. Anyone inside not buckled up is going to get fully launched.

Yet cars hitting the trees on the right side will just be a cushioned stop? 

I also call bullshit on the roots growing under the roadway.  There's thousands of miles of forested roadway with trees right against the road, and it's a rare instance where the shoulder is cracked, much less the entire roadway.  And those roads are built nowhere near as well as interstate highways.

[rte66man]

It's not clear from the article whether ARDOT is clearing ALL of the trees in the median or just back xx feet from the mow line.

[sprjus4]

It's likely that could be the case. Providing 20-30 feet of clearside would be logical both inside and outside.

[In_Correct]

It could be argued that a treeless median creates a firebreak in a forested area that is prone to wildfires. But Arkansas isn't particularly dry, isn't it?

Wouldn't the road itself be the firebreak?

[Bobby5280]

Roads aren't wide enough to provide a fire break. Burning embers can be driven by wind for hundreds or yards creating new hot spots.

I still think clearing some or all of the trees has to be a safety consideration. Here in Oklahoma a few years ago I recall ODOT and OTA clearing trees back a farther distance away from the main lanes of I-44. I remember them doing a bunch of tree clearing work on the Turner Turnpike. In some spots where trees couldn't be cut back (such as steep dip from the road) OTA improved the guard rails on the right edge of the road.

Here in Lawton just North of the Gore Blvd exit quite a few trees and bushes were growing almost adjacent to the right shoulder. The trees and bushes created a blind spot for WB I-44 traffic coming down a curve from the Cache Road interchange. A motorist wouldn't see the off ramp until he was right on it, which could be really bad if traffic was backing up on that ramp. ODOT cleared all the trees at least 50'-60' away from the edge of the roadway. Now the blind spot around that curve is gone.

[Scott5114]

I'd have preferred guardrails or cable barriers to keep people from hitting the trees if that was the concern. Having the trees in the median both blocks headlights and acts as a carbon sink to soak up emissions from the freeway.