In preparation for the planting, officials have been digging long trenches next to a guardrail that parallels U.S. 2 and I-89 and replacing stony dirt with a soil and compost mixture, said Jane Brown, a landscape architect with the agency.

Before summer 2004, stubby green pickets attached to the guardrail formed a barrier for headlights between the two parallel highways. The transportation agency removed the pickets because so many were broken or bent, and officials couldn?EUR??,,????'?????<

Now the agency plans to install a more natural glare barrier, Brown commented. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

There will be three kinds of grasses planted with fairly rigid stems that grow 3 or more feet tall, said Brown. All the plantings are planned for strategic swaths to block or at least soften the brightness of headlights for drivers on the adjacent roadways.

Federal highway rules prohibit plantings with trunks greater than 3 inches in diameter because there isn?EUR??,,????'?????<