M4 cutting down the roadside trees

Cerocco

I was driving along the M4 today and noticed on the left as your heading to galway all the trees have been really chopped back. Why??? They just look like stumps now. What is the point of it?? :eek:

Alun

Maybe they're coppicing them? It results in denser growth which I suppose might be beneficial in terms of hiding whatever it is that's behind them or provide better soundproofing (I don't know the area you're talking about so this might be rubbish!) It also provides a rich wildlife habitat.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

L1011

Some of it is sightline and visibility work too, e.g. to enable better sightlines on corners or to let you see signs.

Amtmann

Are these the birch trees on the straight between Lucan and the PPP section?

JupiterKid

I presume the OP means the Leixlip-Maynooth-Kilcock bypass section - the first - of the M4? It must be about 16/17 years since it opened and the trees along there had in places become overgrown and were blocking some road signs.

In fact, quite a lot of sections of motorway and DC built in the 1990s were IMO over-planted with very fast growing trees that have ended up becoming a bit problematic. However, it seems that the landscaping policy of the NRA has substantially changed since then and if anything, it has gone the other way with the latest sections of motorway landscaped in a very spartan manner.

Perhaps a happy medium is required. Does a set of guidelines exist in relation to the landscaping of new road projects?

Amtmann

Yes, here.

JupiterKid

Furet wrote: »

Yes, here.

Thanks for that link Furet!:)

Zoney

I think there is a serious problem developing too in that trees are maturing along some of the earlier motorways/HQDCs and yet there is no barrier at the verge (as there should be for any serious immovable obstacle close to 120 km/h traffic).

At some stage NRA will either have to chop down all the trees, put barriers along most of the verges, or simply put up with increasing incidents of drivers being killed after leaving the carriageway and hitting a tree.

ted1

could be to stop them getting to big and thus preventing the roots from damaging the road service.

Carawaystick

Zoney wrote: »

I think there is a serious problem developing too in that trees are maturing along some of the earlier motorways/HQDCs and yet there is no barrier at the verge (as there should be for any serious immovable obstacle close to 120 km/h traffic).

At some stage NRA will either have to chop down all the trees, put barriers along most of the verges, or simply put up with increasing incidents of drivers being killed after leaving the carriageway and hitting a tree.

I saw a comparison between a car hitting an 80mm steel pole and an 80mm thick tree trunk before, the steel pole will just bend and fall in a collision(most likely - ymmv) but the tree will stand up to the collision and make bad news for someone.