In 2023, the City of Detroit took over the duty of maintaining the land alongside its freeways from the State of Michigan. That includes cutting the grass on embankments.

With more than 240 miles of freeways in Detroit to take care of, director of the city’s General Services Department, Crystal Perkins, says maintaining the land along the road is a full-time job.

“We have been doing five cuts on the freeways a year,” said Perkins, “Along with litter pickup, we’re out here seven days a week.”

Complicating the task, Perkins says more than 80% of that land is a steep slope.  Those embankments are traditionally cut with heavy duty riding mowers, which do run the risk of tipping over, creating a potentially dangerous situation for operators working just inches from where cars are doing 70 miles per hour.

But the days of worrying so much about rider safety could become a thing of the past. Payne Landscaping, one of two companies the city contracts with, has started to use remote-controlled lawnmowers.

The new technology moves the operator off the frame and up the slope, where they control the machine with a handheld device. Perkins says that set-up is attractive to a new generation of lawncare professionals.

“The operators are more technical,” said Perkins. “So your young adults, your people who maybe like to spend a lot of time on videogames.”

There are a number of benefits to working with the remote-controlled mowers, which are more lightweight than ride-along equipment. Payne Landscaping director, Terry Payne, says it allows his employees to cut grass, even when it’s wet.

“You can cut in the rain with these,” Payne said. “The other mowers, you cannot cut. You’re going to leave tracks.”

That makes it easier for the city to maintain its five-cut-a-year freeway upkeep schedule. City officials say keeping the slopes well-manicured helps discourage illegal dumping.

Beyond the convenience, Payne says the user experience with remote mowers is better than it is with ride-along gear.

“You bounce a lot,” Payne said of old mowers. “It’s bad on your knees and different things. So this is more comfortable. You’re just walking behind it.”

Detroit officials would like to see more remote-controlled lawn mowers buzzing alongside major thoroughfares, but the technology isn’t cheap — costing more than $60,000 per mower. That said, Payne says it’s about the same price as the traditional riding equipment his company would be using otherwise.