April showers bring May flowers … and lots of green grass. Although the spring has been wet and cold so far, it won’t be long before it’s time to trim our roadways. Here are five things you can tell your neighbors about mowing:

1. MoDOT mows about 400,000 acres of highway roadsides a year.
2. In 2006, MoDOT spent more than $18.5 million and 492,000 staff hours on mowing.
3. The majority of mowing is to improve visibility to make driving Missouri highways safer.
4. MoDOT uses native plants on highway roadsides to help cut down on mowing and spraying, which saves maintenance costs and time.
5. MoDOT continues to explore ways to improve the efficiency of our mowing operations to save taxpayers money.