Should businesses cut more roadside trees?

Alan White of Charlotte read Wednesday's editorial about a proposal by billboard companies and other businesses to allow more cutting of vegetation and trees in the public right of way, and was reminded of a scene he saw while driving down U.S. 74 near Rockingham about eight years ago -- but it was about highway construction, not billboards or businesses. He shot this photo with a 35 mm camera, he says, while rolling along, so it's not as sharp as he'd hoped. But it clearly illustrates a point. He wrote:


Great editorial this morning! Keep on those DOT people. They'll just pave over or clear the entire state if gone unchecked.
Attached is an ironic picture of a stretch of road that had some magnificent old growth trees that was cleared for yet another 74 bypass several years ago...

In a follow-up e-mail, he added:

I took it about 8 years ago when they were clearing the roadbed near Rockingham. This section is along the Pee Dee River where the forest is (was) very thick. It broke my heart to see how they bulldozed through that area. The DOT could've worked the bypass a little closer to town instead of plowing through the nice hillside along the river. It's the point where the new bypass splits from the old 74. Now that the bypass is open, undoubtedly bisecting private farms, Rockingham has begun marketing the area as industrial sites. I'm sure you've seen this section.
This is what can be expected when they build the new bypass around Monroe.