Caltrans Planting Brush to Reduce Dust on I-5

Caltrans workers are planting sagebrush and grasses along parts of Interstate 5, hoping to prevent dust storms such as the one that led to a chain-reaction crash last Nov. 29 that killed 17 people and injured 171.

The seeds are being planted along three two-mile sections of road in Fresno, Kings and Kern counties. The $20,000 project targets those three sites because they have the worst dust problems, Caltrans spokesman Bob Binger said.

Federal officials also are working with farmers along I-5 on plans to manage land to reduce airborne dust.