Whose responsibility is it to maintain the landscaping around highway parcels? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

Steve Mosher wrote in to ask about a lot near the Airport Boulevard freeway exchange that was so full of weeds he could barely walk past them on the sidewalk. He said last year mowing crews never visited the parcel, which runs from the Chevron Station to the U.S. 101 southbound on ramp.

“This year nothing except for the trees they cut down nearby,” Mosher said. “The stickers and even the ticks are a nuisance. Some folks have gotten ticks on themselves and their dogs, plus it is now a fire hazard. Can you get someone to mow that section please?”

Tom O’Kane, deputy director of the county’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, knew the location and described it as a kind of “no person’s” land that falls between jurisdictions. “The area is most likely within the limits of the U.S. 101/Airport interchange project,” he said, adding that “the writer is correct. The weeds encroach onto the sidewalk.”

Two days later he reported that the Caltrans maintenance officer was very responsive to his request for service. In two more days, Mosher reported a happy ending: “They mowed it! Thank you very much!”

There are two ways to report similar problems with Sonoma County roads. Send an email from THIS LINK on Sonoma County’s website, or call the county’s Road Maintenance Division at 565-5100.

(Visited 46 times, 1 visits today)