Letters to the Editor

Letter: DOT failing to effectively manage brush

Tree ring count samples show the brush along Chena Hot Springs Road in Fairbanks has not been cut for three to five years.

The brush height effectively camouflages moose that are about to run out into the 55 mph traffic. The measured width of the Department of Transportation cutter is four feet. Math question: How long does it take to cut three miles of CHSR on both sides back 20 feet?

Hint: one side takes five passes, as does the other. Total passes for one mile is 10 passes. Total passes for three miles is 30 passes.

Assuming 1 mph travel speed, it would take 30 hours to do three miles, or three-quarters of one work week.

DOT used to use a road grader and cut about three times as much with only one pass. DOT also, at one time, used a "hydro-axe" to cut maybe 16 feet wide with two passes.

I used a six-inch weed whacker; it took maybe an hour for 250 feet.
Is this an example of wasting taxpayer dividend money by using the wrong tool to do the job quickly and effectively?
— Jim Weidner
Two Rivers

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