Forgive me if I'm wrong, but ... aren't the freeways ALWAYS ugly this time of year? I think it has less to do with erosion or machinery so much as the natural cycle: lots of ground in the region looks brown and muddy this time of year. Mother Nature is not an endless flower show. If you could see the first few inches of soil, there's hellzapoppin' down there. Just wait a month. April showers bring May flowers.

Or perhaps we can have MDOT look into some $2.8 billion system to ensure the freeways have lovely greenscaping even in April, even though, technically, your eyes should be on the road ...