SALT LAKE CITY — Drivers who notice that the sides of Utah's freeways are turning green are not seeing things.
Utah Department of Transportation crews are busy applying a product to the land beside some of Utah's roads.
The light green color added to the land is a seed mix.
In the spring, drivers should see it become plants and flowers that attract bees and butterflies.
UDOT spokesman Mitch Shaw said the mixture is dyed green so crews know where they've applied it.
He says it's essentially a solution that contains wood fibers. It's made out of material that's a little like gum, which helps it stick to the soil.
Shaw said that, without it, the soil will erode. And that could lead to road damage. As an example he pointed to a sinkhole on Interstate 15 in Davis County.
The ground underneath the roadway eroded causing a patch to continually reopen. And that created a lot of traffic problems.
"If we go in and build a new road, we want to make sure it's built as good as it possibly can be, so we don't have to go in and spend money on maintenance and things like that," Shaw said.
Additionally, he said crews are still on track to complete the Mountain View Corridor project in Utah County by spring.
It stretches from 2100 South in Lehi to Porter Rockwell Boulevard in Herriman.
He said the new roadway is being built to accommodate the explosion of growth, which has brought more drivers to Utah roads.
Shaw said this project will eventually become a new, 35-mile freeway that extends north into Salt Lake County. He said several miles of trail will be included in the project.
