New fences nothing to celebrate

The construction of the black fence along I-65 is not something that we should all be celebrating.

Over the last several months, I have watched with sadness as the crews removed literally thousands of shrubs, bushes and full grown trees to clear the corridor for the fence. This vegetation provided cover and habitat for countless birds and other wildlife, as well as natural scenery along the roadsides. It is unclear at this point exactly how long this fence will be, but it now runs at least from Exit 22-28, mostly on both sides of the interstate, so there is no less than 10 miles of fence.

The fence consists of upright wooden posts spaced about every 8 feet, with 4 horizontal rails per section. That’s over 6,000 wooden posts and over 25,000 wooden rails (which used to be trees) purchased when lumber prices are at historic highs. The fence is coated with black paint, stain, or similar which has a limited lifespan and will decay and eventually wind up in the groundwater. The fenceline will also have to be cleared annually, which will probably be done with 10+ miles of herbicide.

The section along Cumberland Trace removed vegetation which provided a sound and visual barrier to folks living there. Night-time drivers traveling south on Cumberland Trace are now blinded by northbound traffic in I-65, who are in turn blinded by drivers on Cumberland Trace; some drivers may be startled by thinking there is an oncoming car in their lane.

The heavy-duty USDOT galvanized fence which has been used for decades provided a proven barrier which would could prevent some vehicles from leaving the interstate during a crash; there has already been at least one crash which blasted completely through our new and improved decorative wooden fence.

Lee Banks

Bowling Green