Illinois Interstate travel may seem grassier this summer than in years past.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is reducing its mowing along Interstate greenways. Starting this month, IDOT is only mowing 15 feet of right of way beyond the edge of the roadway. It’s part of the effort to encourage growth of plant species as a food source for bees, butterflies and other insects. Specifically, the goal is to help revive shrinking populations of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators.
Illinois Transportation Secretary Randy Blankenhorn says IDOT is one of the state’s largest landowners and the agency appreciates its environmental stewardship responsibility. Blankenhorn says the reduction in mowing schedule will have little impact on the traveling public, but will give a big assist to Mother Nature.