Well I am doing routing & processing similar to what you describe, but a lot of that work I do from the MixConsole and not the Project Window.
Most of the work I do in the Project Window is related to timing specific items - e.g. the bass Part starts at a specific time, an automation change occurs at specific time, the progression changes to a IV at a specific time. So creating and editing things like that are primarily what I’m doing in the Project Window.
Where in the MixConsole the work is more about signal flow and processing. So reverbs, EQ, levels, routing, delays, compressors, etc.
To over-simplify the Project Window is focused on ‘when’ and the MixConsole is focused on ‘what’
In general I keep all my Groups together locked to the right side and not intermingled with whatever is feeding them. The right side of my MixConsole goes - Groups | FXs | Stereo Out - and none of these are normally visible in the Project Window (except when I want to edit automation on them). I find having all the Group Channels adjacent in the MixConsole makes mixing much easier than hunting around through a bunch of tracks.
My Template does have one case of a Group Channel next to what is feeding it. I use BFD3 a lot and it has separate audio outs for kick, snare, overheads etc. So I use a Group to sum those and to my thinking it is behaving more like a main output for BFD3. But even then it is set to only be visible in the MixConsole and not in the Project Window where it serves no purpose.
Take the workflow you describe and show in your pics, if you go into the Project Window’s Left Zone and set the Group in you pic to not be visible, how does that impact your workflow? Does anything really change one way or the other based on its visibility? If not, that’s how you get rid of seeing that annoying automation line.