Acquire drainage easements or interlocal agreement when necessary to grade outfalls and thus provide adequate drainage.

Avoid designing drainage outfall that is lower than the adjacent property elevation.

Design drainage structures with preferred velocities of 3-ft/s or greater to provide self-cleaning if possible.

Reinforced concrete boxes (RCBs) should be no less than 3-ft tall to facilitate ease of cleanout and maintenance unless the roadway profile is severely constrained.

Where practical, try to match the drainage structure to the natural grade of the drainage channel, and then profile the roadway over the structure.

If existing conditions have silting or erosion, provide grades back to existing conditions and add protection.

Avoid placing signs or impeding structures in ditches. Such placement may impede drainage (making mowing more difficult) and result in erosion or siltation around the sign support.

Where practical, riprap mow strips around sign supports may minimize the need for herbicidal treatment.

Avoid the use of roadside barriers if the fixed object (culvert, large sign, steep slope, etc.) can be appropriately relocated or eliminated. The barrier itself represents a fixed object and should only be used where alternatives are impractical. Locate roadway infrastructure objects such that they are least likely to be struck by an errant vehicle.

When designing grade separations, consider extending riprap on the header banks of the overpasses all the way to the crossroad pavement. Eliminate the need to mow or maintain small strips of soil or vegetation near objects, walls, roads, gores, etc.

Consider the provision of a narrow mow strip at the bottom or top of retaining walls to simplify mowing operations along the wall. Riprap considerations may also be appropriate in other locations (sign structures, narrow borders, cable barrier, etc.).

Generally, roadway designs should reduce the amount of hand trimming or labor that would be required and eliminate the places that are relatively difficult for mowers to access.

Provide access to areas requiring maintenance (mowing, bridge inspection, etc.). For twin bridge structures, provide sufficient distance (typically 10-ft minimum between) to facilitate access for inspections that may require aerial-vehicles.

Use desirable design criteria recommended herein regarding maximum roadway side slope ratios and ditch profile grades to the extent possible to reduce the maintenance effort and make required maintenance operations easier and safer to accomplish.