The I-4 Ultimate project is already tricky enough for drivers to navigate, but who is in charge of cutting the grass around the project area?

David C. from Orlando writes to us this week:

I felt it was important to say that the weeds around John Young Parkway and L.B. McLeod Road are over 3 feet tall. It reminds me of the TV show, "Aftermath: Population ZERO." I hope our infrastructure is not being impacted by the I-4 project or political instability?

David's "Population Zero" reference refers to a National Geographic documentary about what the world's infrastructure could look like if humanity no longer existed.

Well, no stretch of I-4 looks like that quite yet, but it does have its areas of severely overgrown foliage and grass that needs to be mowed.

One of those areas being worked on this week is Ivanhoe Boulevard, which was just another part of I-4 Ultimate itself, a part that can be quite an extensive responsibility.

"(We're working) all the grass shoulders, basically from the chain-link fence to the edge of I-4, but then also some areas of the surface streets, the interchanges, and even the storm water retention ponds,” I-4 Ultimate spokesman Dave Parks said. “So it's a large area that crews have to come out and maintain on a regular basis.” 

On a monthly basis, crews have to take care of a laundry list of areas that spans up to 300 acres.

"The crews have to obviously maintain the roadway to make sure it's safe for drivers and pedestrians as they are walking through the area,” Parks said. “But you also have to be sure it's safe for the crews to come out and do that regular maintenance."

Although crews stick to their monthly schedule, 21 miles is still a lot of road to maintain, weeds to cut and grass to mow. That's why things can start to seem a little out of control.

However, if you request a certain "hot spot" to be taken care of, crews said they will do their best to take care of it immediately. For example, crews had already taken care of John Young Parkway per David C.'s request earlier in the week.

"If the public reaches out to us and lets us know that there is an area that is growing a little bit faster than some of the others, we have crews at the ready,” Parks said. “We can send them out and take care of that area and get it cleaned up pretty quickly."

If you need to get in touch with the people at I-4 Ultimate regarding an issue like David's, go to their website at i4ultimate.com and send them a message, or give them a call at 844-ULT-INFO.

Thanks for your question, David.

If you have a traffic issue or problem that needs to be solved, write in to Ryan's Traffic Inbox and fill out the form.