We bust some common myths around visibility splay cutting.
With a responsibility for providing safe and clear roads, ensuring good visibility of the road is essential. This includes making sure there are no obstructions, and in the summer months, this means putting in place a grass-cutting programme.
What is a visibility splay?
A visibility splay is the angle and distance from which drivers emerging from a road or access can see, and be seen, by drivers using the priority road. It is essential that these lines of sight are kept clear, to maintain the safety of all road users. With this in mind, it is an important part of highway grass maintenance to cut these visibility splays, removing vegetation, including grass, to maintain visibility. In the spring and summer months, trees, bushes and grass grow and obstruct the view of road users, making it difficult to see drivers and pedestrians. This can be dangerous, especially on narrow roads, or those with high speeds.
How is visibility splay cutting carried out?
This is usually done by highway maintenance teams, using mowers equipped with specialised cutting attachments that remove vegetation close to the ground, leaving the roadside clear. The mowers can also be fitted with side-mounted cutting heads that can reach into difficult-to-access areas, such as around signs, posts and barriers
The process of visibility splay cutting involves removing vegetation to a specified distance from the road, depending on the speed limit and the type of road. This is done in a triangular shape, with the apex of the triangle at the driver's eye level and the base of the triangle extending towards the road. The width of the triangle will depend on the road's speed limit or additional bends in the road.
Busting Myths and Answering Common Questions
Myth #1: Splay cutting destroys wildlife habitats.
Fact: Highway authorities carry out splay cutting in a way that minimises the impact on wildlife habitats. Only the vegetation that is obstructing the road user’s view is cut, and the rest is left untouched. This ensures that wildlife habitats are not destroyed, protecting biodiversity.
Myth #2: Splay cutting is only carried out on major roads.
Fact: Highway authorities carry out visibility splay cutting on all types of roads that they manage, including minor roads and rural roads. Any road that requires improved visibility for drivers can benefit from splay cutting.
Myth #3: Splay cutting is expensive.
Fact: Visibility splay cutting is a cost-effective measure compared to the potential cost of accidents caused by poor visibility on the road. It can save money in the long run by reducing the need for cutting the entire verge. When vegetation is left uncut it can quickly grow, causing maintenance issues. Visibility splay cutting is a cost-effective form of grass maintenance as it only removes grass and vegetation that is obstructing the view of road users.
Using Grass SMART for efficiency
Local authorities are increasingly looking to use Grass SMART as a tool for effective and efficient grass-cutting programmes. Saving time, reducing costs and using resources efficiently, Grass SMART is a simple and easy software solution to manage the grass-cutting programme.
Mark Entwistle, Managing Director at KaarbonTech commented,
"Ensuring safe and clear roadways for drivers is the top priority for highway authorities. With the help of Grass SMART we can efficiently programme visibility splay cutting, a crucial measure to improve driver visibility. By removing obstructive vegetation, we're not only enhancing road safety but also minimising the impact on wildlife habitats and reducing long-term maintenance costs. It's a win-win situation for everyone."
Find out more about Grass SMART here.