July 16, 2019 UPDATE: After hearing concerns from several township boards, the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, as well as members of the community, the Washtenaw County Board of County Road Commissioners voted today, July 16, 2019 to terminate the herbicide spraying program, effective immediately.
This decision means that WCRC will not spray herbicide along rural county road rights-of-way in Lyndon, Dexter, Webster, Sylvan or Lima Townships or any other Washtenaw County township, this year or in the future.
Read more: https://www.wcroads.org/wcrc-board-cancels-herbicide-spraying-program/
WHAT: Roadside herbicide spraying
WHEN: August 2019
WHERE: Webster, Dexter, Lyndon, Sylvan and Lima Townships
BACKGROUND: This August, the Washtenaw County Road Commission (WCRC) will begin its annual rural roadside herbicide spraying program. This year spraying will be conducted in Webster, Dexter, Lyndon, Sylvan and Lima Townships.
Specifically trained, licensed and experienced professionals will selectively apply the herbicides to specific vegetation that could create a driving hazard along the roadside. This is part of WCRC’s four-pronged Roadside Vegetation Control Program. This program is designed to contain roadside vegetation that if left unchecked, could obstruct motorists’ vision, obstruct the traveled portion of the roadway, create drainage problems and/or cause snow/ice problems.
The herbicide operation is not a continuous broadcast spray. Herbicide spraying does not take place in subdivisions, near bodies of water, along mowed lawns or along officially designated county “Natural Beauty Roads”.
Property owners, who would rather not have vegetation sprayed along the road right-of-way abutting their property have the option to opt out. To opt out, property owners must complete the following before July 15, 2019:
- Return completed “No Treatment Zone” application form to WCRC
- Clear the road right-of-way abutting your property of weed growth and brush
- Once the area has been cleared, notify WCRC. Prior to the herbicide spraying, WCRC will mark the start and end of your property using stakes and direct its contractor to not spray the staked area
CONTACT: If you have any questions concerning this work, please contact Adam Lape, superintendent of maintenance, (734) 327-6697 or [email protected].
For more information about WCRC’s roadside vegetation control program visit: www.wcroads.org/roadside-vegetation-control/.
ISSUE DATE: 06/10/19
