ColumbiaMagazine.com
Printed from:

Welcome to Columbia Magazine  
 

































 
KYTC crews to begin spraying roadside vegetation

From Naitore Djigbenou/Allen Blair

Frankfort, KY - To prevent infrastructure damage and maintain roadway visibility, Team Kentucky's transportation crews will soon begin roadside treatments targeting invasive and harmful vegetation.

"There's a lot that goes into maintaining the integrity and safety of our roads," said KYTC Secretary Jim Gray. "Our annual treatment of noxious weeds not only minimizes erosion and damage to drainage systems - it protects travelers by reducing unnatural roadside habitat that attracts wildlife closer to traffic."

KYTC is directed to control the following invasive plants and noxious weeds in accordance with KRS 176.051 and 603 KAR 3:100:


  • Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii)
  • Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense)
  • Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
  • Cutleaf Teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus)
  • Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)
  • Johnson Grass (Sorghum halepense)
  • Kudzu (Pueraria montana)
  • Marestail (Conyza canadensis)
  • Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)
  • Nodding Thistle (Carduus nutans)
  • Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
  • Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe)
Noxious weeds like Spotted Knapweed and Canada Thistle often invade and destroy the roadside turf grass, leaving these areas vulnerable to erosion. Aggressive invasive species like Kudzu can smother native plants through rapid reproduction and long-term persistence. Others, like Amur Honeysuckle (a favorite of white-tailed deer), if left to mature, can grow over 20 feet tall and wide, reducing roadway visibility and attracting wildlife closer to roadways.

Kentuckians with noxious weeds on private property adjacent to state-owned rights of way may request highway crews to treat listed vegetation. Application forms are available upon request from the appropriate KYTC highway district office. Contact information may be found on the district web pages listed here.

Motorists are reminded to use extra caution when crews are out treating roadsides.


This story was posted on 2026-03-02 18:34:09
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.



 






























 
 
Quick Links to Popular Features


Looking for a story or picture?
Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com.

 

Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728.
Phone: 270.403.0017


Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.