EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was written in response to a reader-submitted question through Open Source, a platform where readers can ask Ashland Source’s newsroom to investigate a question.
ASHLAND — Our readers took notice of trees being removed along a well-used highway in the county, U.S. Route 42, and asked us who was behind it and why.
The recent tree removal is part of a larger county project throughout the past couple of years, Ohio Department of Transportation public information officer for district three Kaitlyn Thompson wrote in an email to Ashland Source.
ODOT’s Ashland County maintenance garage crews cut down trees lining the strip of U.S. 42 between Mifflin Avenue and King Road in Ashland because of safety concerns.
“The stretch of U.S. 42 you are referring to had a lot of dead trees and hanging/canopying trees that needed to be removed,” Thompson wrote.
The hanging/canopying trees grow up and over the roadway, which Thompson wrote causes shading that can lead to frosting and freezing conditions that pose issues for treating for snow and ice.
The dead trees posed safety concerns because of their potential to fall onto the roadway.
“By clearing the trees it makes it much easier for our crews to assess our assets (i.e. right-of-way fence, culverts, ditches, etc.),” Thompson wrote.
ODOT also has a tree cutting and trimming contract that is handled through its construction department, for which work is completed by a contractor.
A contracted tree trimming project typically includes routes all across District 3, meaning it would include a larger area than the county garages would be able to manage.
However, the recent clearings were manageable enough to be handled by the county garage, Thompson wrote.
“The majority of the work was performed while the Ashland County garage was on winter season shifts, both the day and night crews were able to work out there to clear the trees,” Thompson wrote. “The crews utilized both the excavator and skid steer fecons.”
The majority of the trees are mulched on-site because the fecon machine is able to mulch trees as they are taken down. The stray branches and limbs are put into a chipper.
The Ashland County crews have also been clearing trees in other areas using the aforementioned strategy, including on Interstate 71 and U.S. Route 30.
