Our trunk roads pass through varied environments in the North West and South East of Scotland – from wildflower meadows to woodlands and loch embankments to grasslands. These landscapes form an important element to the overall driving experience from both a safety and an aesthetic perspective.

Now that we are in the midst of Summer (though recent weather suggests otherwise!), it is the peak period for plant growth and landscape maintenance activities to manage this.

BEAR Scotland has in-house landscaping and environmental experts who work with our design engineers and operatives to manage the impact of our cyclic maintenance and improvement schemes on the natural environment, while prioritising the experience and safety for road users.

Our Landscape Design teams cover a wide variety of elements including surveying landscape assets, designing schemes and supervising their execution. Cyclical maintenance such as grass cutting, herbicide application and vegetation management schemes are delivered by our Operational teams.

Grass cutting and trimming of verges starts in earnest from Spring with different areas requiring varying levels of maintenance. In some areas such as junctions, the Transport Scotland contract requires more regular cuts than in other locations where sightlines are not as crucial.

Most verges require low frequency mowing throughout summer. A reduced mowing regime has been implemented in some localised areas following agreement with Transport Scotland, allowing wildflowers and other plants to grow and set seed before getting mowed, which increases biodiversity in these sections of verge.

Our Operational teams also watch out for invasive species and, if any are identified, they work with our environment team to treat, monitor and eradicate them where possible.

Trees offer both visual amenity and a positive impact on the environment and wildlife. As such, it is our client, Transport Scotland’s policy for us to leave healthy trees or branches be unless we consider that they present a significant safety concern. It is worth remembering that adjacent landowners are responsible for checking and maintaining any trees on their land that may present a danger to the Trunk Road.

We monitor the condition of roadside trees. A qualified Arborist inspects and assesses all roadside trees periodically for defects. Any trees identified as causing a potential safety issue are monitored and addressed as required. In some circumstances, tree removal is necessary, for instance, to improve visibility for road users, or to remove damaged or diseased trees alongside the trunk road network. When this work is required, our Environment Team assesses potential impacts on protected species like bird or bat populations.

We manage almost 2,000km of trunk roads in Scotland, all of which are surrounded by landscape of some sort. Therefore, managing that ever-changing, living asset is a key responsibility. One which we take seriously every day.