Urban policy

Highway Maintenance | Roadsides | Mowing Wisconsin's roadsides | Rural policy | Urban policy

A county highway worker mows alongside a state highway in Eau Claire.

This urban mowing policy is used in combination with the natural roadsides philosophy and allows for increased mowing frequency in specified urban areas to produce a closer match in vegetation management to adjacent land uses. There are two categories of urban mowing, urban state trunk highways (STH) and urban controlled-access highway interchanges and access roads.

Urban mowing maps(51 MB - This is a large file and may take several minutes to download)
HMM 07-05-40 -Urban Mowing

Urban state highways

These are roadways identified as having all of the following attributes. Excluded are areas that have project maintenance agreements, right of way maintained by private individuals, municipalities with an established mowing ordinance, or right of way that historically has not been mowed.

Not a designated connecting highway
Right of way within a municipality designated as a municipal extension
Roadway defined as curb and gutter sections, medians, and roundabouts
Highways with a speed limit of 50 mph or less

Mowing criteria
Begin mowing when vegetation reaches 9” in height
Minimum height shall be maintained at a level necessary to prevent the “scalping” of existing turf
10 mowing cycles per mowing season
Implement best management practices (BMPs) to comply with NR40 as necessary

Urban controlled-access highway interchanges and access roads

These are controlled-access interchanges and access roads that have all of the following attributes. Controlled-access highways are highways, or sections of highways, that have full or partial access control. If a highway has full controlled-access, the property owner has no right of access to that highway. This includes any interstate and freeway interchanges.

Location inside a state defined Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) or within a state defined “Premier Resort Area,” per s. 66.1113, Wis. Stats.
Part of a controlled-access highway (Interstates, freeways, and freeway/expressway mixes)
The annual average daily traffic (AADT) on two interchange ramps is 5,000 or greater per ramp or the AADT on at least one interchange ramp is equal to or greater than 7,500.

Mowing criteria

Begin mowing when vegetation reaches 18” in height
Minimum height shall be 6” in height
6 mowing cycles per mowing season

Implement best management practices (BMPs) to comply with NR40 as necessary