Missouri Department of Transportation Roadside Management Specialist Rand Swanigan recently received a national Roadside Excellence Award.

Swanigan was recognized for excellence in developing a successful vegetation management program for Missouri roadsides. The National Roadside Vegetation Management Association presented the award, which is given annually to the city, the county, state agency and university with the top roadside vegetation management program. Swanigan and MoDOT won the state agency award.

“I’m proud to say the PGR program has saved MoDOT $2 -$3 million annually in maintenance funds,” Swanigan says. “The program has allowed us to  reduce mowing and use those hours for other projects.”

The vegetation program was developed to find a way to control tall fescue and brome, perennial roadside grasses. These grasses grow well on roadsides, but can quickly become and obstruction or sight distance problem for drivers. MoDOT’s solution is a herbicide, which still allows the grasses to thrive but keeps them at a manageable height to reduce the amount of time and money needed for maintenance.

The PGR program was tested for several years and then implemented statewide. It produced positive results. Several benefits of the PGR program include:

• Reduces roadside activities during the summer, which improves safety for both motorists and workers
• Leaves more time for pavement maintenance
• Reduces acres to mow

• Provides a longer-lasting solution than mowing

This program is a tool to help MoDOT maintain more than 32,000 roadside miles and more than 385,000 acres of land. MoDOT also focuses on these other areas to maintain this land and make it more attractive: mowing; herbicides; seeding, fertilizing and erosion control; incarcerated personnel work release; litter; roadside plantings and roadside facilities.