Wooded areas along roads fulfill a variety of functions such as screening and glare protection, slope protection, but also as a flyover aid for certain bird species. In order to maintain these functions in the long term and ensure the safety of road users, the trees and shrubs must be regularly maintained.
According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, the maintenance of trees and shrubs in the open landscape may take place between the beginning of October and the end of February.
First pruning from October 21
The Ludwigsburg district's first measure in the 2024/2025 maintenance period will begin next Monday, October 21, in the morning on the B 27a between the junction to the container terminal in Kornwestheim and the railroad bridge in the direction of Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. The work on this section of road will take about a week.
By creating the clearance profile, the view of signs and traffic signs will be restored and trees and shrubs protruding into the carriageway will be cut back. Structures will also be cut free for necessary inspections. On the other hand, hedges that have become too tall and patchy are maintained by "topping up", i.e. cutting them about 10 centimetres above the ground.
"What may sometimes seem like radical clear-cutting actually serves as a life-preserving and rejuvenating maintenance measure. The plants grow back quickly and form dense, new stands. By proceeding in sections, small animals and insects have the opportunity to adapt to the new situation and have enough space to retreat to in the untouched adjacent areas," explains Jürgen Vogt, First State Official and Head of the Department of Law, Order and Traffic at the Ludwigsburg District Office.
Tree felling necessary - drought and fungal diseases are causing problems for trees
In the run-up to the work, trees within the hedgerows that are worth preserving will also be identified and left as they are. In addition to the aim of establishing ecologically valuable old-growth stands that characterize the landscape through this selective promotion of individual trees, the selection of the remaining wood species also plays a major role with regard to adaptation to climate change.
In addition to large-scale maintenance, the felling of severely damaged individual trees is a second component of woodland maintenance work. In addition to fungal diseases, which have increased significantly in recent years and lead to the total death of infected trees in some species, roadside trees are also suffering greatly from the drought of recent summers. Responding to the increasing number of damaged trees in good time presents the road maintenance service with major challenges in terms of ensuring road safety.
For the tree maintenance work, some of which can only be carried out with an aerial work platform and special equipment (felling crane), the roadway is narrowed or closed on one side to secure the work area and traffic is sometimes regulated by construction site traffic lights, depending on local conditions. The focus of this year's tree maintenance work is on the B10, B27 and B295 trunk roads. The Ludwigsburg District Office asks road users for their understanding for the resulting traffic obstructions.
