Which states have the best and worst freeway landscaping?

[jdbx]

Florida is in a league of its own in this one, with nice year-round weather. There's lots of tropical trees and plants in the sub-urbanized interstate/highway ramps, plazas, loops, median plantings.

North Carolina does a nice job on I-95.

I do agree with that Florida statement. I've always thought their freeway landscaping looked top-notch. I especially like the retention ponds inside loop ramps.

The thing that kind of tripped me out with those retention ponds was how often I saw people pulled off to the side of the freeway fishing from them.  Not sure if that is actually legal, but I see it every time I am in Florida.

[jakeroot]

On some level it does not really seem like a fair contest. States like Texas seem to put a fair amount of effort into making nice looking interchanges, etc. and end up with a serviceable result. But most states in the Northeast don't seem to put any effort in and yet, thanks to the climate, most of the non-urban freeways are beautified quite well by mother nature.

I think this is a great point: things that are often considered beautiful, like dark green grass & thick trees, shrubs, and ivy are normal parts of the geography up north.

Although WSDOT made a point of beautifying I-90 over Mercer Island in the early 90s, many of the features are naturally-occurring anyways. Nowadays, its just basic maintenance. The landscaping works perfectly with mother nature. The same may not necessarily be said for some of the rock art along the Arizona freeways (no idea how those are held in place).

The Pacific Northwest has quite beautiful landscaping simply because of the climate of the region, but it does result in some of the concrete appearing rather dirty. In the image below (I-90 Eastbound, Mercer Island, WA), you can see how the concrete is kind of worn with streaks. Similar streaking is visible in places like Hawaii, where there is also lots of precipatation, such as here at the Harano Tunnels along the H3 Freeway. At any rate, it fits in with the overall "wet" or "green" feel and, despite the streaking, the overall feel is very natural and beautiful.

[HighwayStar]

On some level it does not really seem like a fair contest. States like Texas seem to put a fair amount of effort into making nice looking interchanges, etc. and end up with a serviceable result. But most states in the Northeast don't seem to put any effort in and yet, thanks to the climate, most of the non-urban freeways are beautified quite well by mother nature.

I think this is a great point: things that are often considered beautiful, like dark green grass & thick trees, shrubs, and ivy are normal parts of the geography up north.

Although WSDOT made a point of beautifying I-90 over Mercer Island in the early 90s, many of the features are naturally-occurring anyways. Nowadays, its just basic maintenance. The landscaping works perfectly with mother nature. The same may not necessarily be said for some of the rock art along the Arizona freeways (no idea how those are held in place).

The Pacific Northwest has quite beautiful landscaping simply because of the climate of the region, but it does result in some of the concrete appearing rather dirty. In the image below (I-90 Eastbound, Mercer Island, WA), you can see how the concrete is kind of worn with streaks. Similar streaking is visible in places like Hawaii, where there is also lots of precipatation, such as here at the Harano Tunnels along the H3 Freeway. At any rate, it fits in with the overall "wet" or "green" feel and, despite the streaking, the overall feel is very natural and beautiful.

Exactly. The west side of the Cascades is very much like the east side of the Appalachians, one reminds me very much of the other. That kind of green environment, which can make even a freeway reasonably attractive, is simply impossible in many places while nearly automatic there. Also worth noting is the abundance of topography over much of those regions which adds to the effect, something which is not present in other green places, like say Florida.

[CoreySamson]

Florida is in a league of its own in this one, with nice year-round weather. There's lots of tropical trees and plants in the sub-urbanized interstate/highway ramps, plazas, loops, median plantings.

North Carolina does a nice job on I-95.

I do agree with that Florida statement. I've always thought their freeway landscaping looked top-notch. I especially like the retention ponds inside loop ramps.

The thing that kind of tripped me out with those retention ponds was how often I saw people pulled off to the side of the freeway fishing from them.  Not sure if that is actually legal, but I see it every time I am in Florida.

I still think it's a great practical use of space. Here where I'm at, there's almost no space to put retention ponds because of suburban sprawl, so water ends up flooding into the streets.

[SkyPesos]

A lot of Chinese freeways I've been on has this fake plant thing dangling from overpasses. Take it however you like; it can either be very appealing or very ugly.

[jakeroot]

A lot of Chinese freeways I've been on has this fake plant thing dangling from overpasses. Take it however you like; it can either be very appealing or very ugly.

The ivy there is fake? Pretty convincing. Could you provide a link to that Chinese Street View?

[SkyPesos]

A lot of Chinese freeways I've been on has this fake plant thing dangling from overpasses. Take it however you like; it can either be very appealing or very ugly.

The ivy there is fake? Pretty convincing. Could you provide a link to that Chinese Street View?

At first glance, to me, it looks fake. But I did some more searching in that city, and I found some freeways where that overhanging ivy plant thing seemes to be dead

Here's two examples in the same city on Baidu maps. First one is the same as the picture I sent earlier, second one is on the same freeway a bit north of the first location. Here's what I think are the dead plants.