Roadside Resources

Roadside design and management is integral to efficient highway planning, design, operation, and maintenance. These areas must be managed for multiple uses and benefits, including safety considerations, signage, utilities, water quality, aesthetics and habitat. Decisions on how to balance and manage these interests affects the appearance of the roadside and the user experience. Properly designed and managed vegetation complements the functions of the roadway, integrates the roadway into the surrounding landscape, and has a positive effect on the traveling public.

Roadside Resources provides support for roadside vegetation management during planning, design, construction, and maintenance and manages NEPA requirements for vegetation management activities, including the use of herbicides, with external agencies.

Map of Herbicide/Invasive Species Contacts

Roadside Resources coordinates with and supports programs throughout ADOT, including:

• Roadside Development,
• Environmental Planning, 
• Engineering and Construction,
• Central Highway Maintenance, and
• Maintenance and Landscaping staff in the ADOT Districts.

ADOT Roadside Vegetation Management Guidelines

ADOT’s goal for roadside management is to follow Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) practices. IVM promotes the establishment of low-maintenance beneficial vegetation and the suppression of unwanted vegetation through the integration of biological, cultural, manual, mechanical, and educational methods. Chemical controls are used only when needed. IVM uses plant growth characteristics, principles of plant succession, and knowledge of natural and human-related factors affecting environmental change to achieve management goals, while minimizing impacts on the environment.

Coordination with Land Managing Agencies

Coordination of Vegetation Management and Herbicide Use with Regulatory/Permitting Agencies