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Austin resident worries about overgrown grass on medians

For some, it's not just an image issue. Overgrown medians affect walking, riding a bicycle and those traveling in a wheelchair.

AUSTIN — This week’s rain can be good for our gardens and grass, but some worry about locations they said don’t need any more growth.

"As I drive around Austin, I see totally overgrown weedy medians all the time,” said Robert Nash.

Nash, who has lived in Austin since the 1970s, said he worries about the plants blocking the sidewalks, affecting people walking, riding a bicycle, or traveling in a wheelchair -- as well as the city's image.

"It's not putting our best foot forward, we can do better than this," said Nash. "We need to not keep them like golf courses, but at least reasonably neat and tidy.”

He's reached out to the City in the past, even talking directly with the mowing contractor. While he said they've addressed some spots, he wants to see a better routine.

"I think there's still room for improvement,” said Nash.

"Quite often, as soon as we see major rains, everything starts growing really fast, so we need to be ready to respond to that need as well,” said Pirouz Moin, the interim city engineer.

According to Moin, the City increased the budget in 2016 to allow their contractors to mow each location 18 times a year, or about every three weeks.

"But of course that's based on the need,” said Moin. “So, in the summer, we do ask them to do every three weeks, but then when it's not raining, or in the winter, it would be less often."

He said they've gotten a handful of complaints this summer about tall grass, but said oftentimes the location isn't on their route and instead is the responsibility of one of their community partners, like a neighborhood association.

"Basically, we are trying to make sure everything gets mowed before it gets too high,” said Moin.

If you see a problem area, he encourages you to call 311 to report it.

"So if it's missed, we would definitely get to it, and then we would add it to the location list for that contractor to then go into the regular cycle,” said Moin.

A cycle that Nash hopes the City will closely monitor, so he doesn't have to.

While the City is responsible for mowing medians, Moin said some of the overgrown areas you see actually fall to the responsibility of the property owner.

He said the vegetation in front of a home or business shouldn't be higher than 14 inches above the street, and eight inches above the sidewalk.

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