Road verge

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A curb strip in suburban Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Outside of rural areas in New England, devil strips are narrow - the one pictured is 52 inches (130 cm; 1.3 m) from curb to sidewalk. They are usually not maintained by the municipality, but rather by the property owner, and are used primarily to provide space for utility poles. Massachusetts-devils strip.JPG
A curb strip in suburban Greater Boston, Massachusetts. Outside of rural areas in New England, devil strips are narrow – the one pictured is 52 inches (130 cm; 1.3 m) from curb to sidewalk. They are usually not maintained by the municipality, but rather by the property owner, and are used primarily to provide space for utility poles.

A road verge is a strip of groundcover consisting of grass or garden plants, and sometimes also shrubs and trees, located between a roadway and a sidewalk. [1] Verges are known by dozens of other names such as grass strip, nature strip, curb strip, or park strip, the usage of which is often quite regional.

Contents

Road verges are often considered public property, with maintenance usually being a municipal responsibility. Some local authorities, however, require abutting property owners to help maintain (e.g. watering, mowing, edging, trimming/pruning and weeding) their respective verge areas, as well as clean the adjunct footpaths and gutters, [2] as a form of community work.

Benefits of having road verges include visual aesthetics, increased safety and comfort of sidewalk users, protection from spray from passing vehicles, and a space for benches, bus shelters, street lights, and other public amenities. Verges are also often part of sustainability for water conservation or the management of urban runoff and water pollution [3] [4] [5] and can provide useful wildlife habitat. Snow that has been ploughed off the street in colder climates often is stored in the area of the verge by default.[ citation needed ]

In the British Isles, road verges serve as important habitats for a range of florae, including rare wildflowers. [6] In the UK, around 700 different species of wildflower can be found growing on verges, including 29 of the country's 52 species of orchid. [7] Verges can also support a wide range of animals and plants that may have been displaced from their usual grassland habitats, as the soil is not extensively fertilised and relatively undisturbed by human activity. Animals that reside on verges range from small insects and amphibians, to larger reptiles, mammals and birds, which rely on verges as a corridor connecting areas of undamaged habitat. As a result, verges may be managed by local areas to encourage biodiversity and conserve the ecosystems that rely on them. [7]

Protection of roadside verge in Northumberland UK Roadside Verge.jpg
Protection of roadside verge in Northumberland UK

The main disadvantage of a road verge is that the right-of-way must be wider, increasing the cost of the road. In some localities, a wider verge offers opportunity for later road widening, should the traffic usage of a road demand this. For this reason, footpaths are usually sited a significant distance from the curb.[ citation needed ]

Certain nutrient amounts in a verge's soil can be influenced by the amount of traffic on the road it sits beside; roads with heavier traffic tend to have more nitrate in the soil due to nitrogen compounds from air pollution leaching out of the atmosphere and into the ground. [7]

Sustainable urban and landscape design

Planted rain garden in the "tree lawn" zone, Raleigh, North Carolina. Treelawn2.JPG
Planted rain garden in the "tree lawn" zone, Raleigh, North Carolina.

In urban and suburban areas, urban runoff from private and civic properties can be guided by grading and bioswales for rainwater harvesting collection and bioretention within the "tree-lawn" – parkway zone in rain gardens. This is done for reducing runoff of rain and domestic water: for their carrying waterborne pollution off-site into storm drains and sewer systems; and for the groundwater recharge of aquifers. [3]

In some cities, such as Santa Monica, California, city code mandates specify:

Parkways, the area between the outside edge of the sidewalk and the inside edge of the curb which are a component of the Public Right of Way (PROW) – that the landscaping should require little or no irrigation and the area produce no runoff. [4]

For Santa Monica, another reason for this use of "tree-lawns" is to reduce current beach and Santa Monica Bay ocean pollution that is measurably higher at city outfalls. New construction and remodeling projects needing building permits require that landscape design submittals include garden design plans showing the means of compliance. [4]

In some cities and counties, such as Portland, Oregon, street and highway departments are regrading and planting rain gardens in road verges to reduce boulevard and highway runoff. This practice can be useful in areas with either independent Storm sewers or combined storm and sanitary sewers, reducing the frequency of pollution, treatment costs, and released overflows of untreated sewage into rivers and oceans during rainstorms. [8]

Rural roadsides

In some countries, the road verge can be a corridor of vegetation that remains after adjacent land has been cleared. Considerable effort in supporting conservation of the remnant vegetation is prevalent in Australia, where significant tracts of land are managed as part of the roadside conservation strategies by government agencies. [9] [10]

Terminology

The term verge has many synonyms and dialectal differences. Some dialects and idiolects lack a specific term for this area, instead using a circumlocution. [11] [12]

Terms used include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidewalk</span> Pedestrian path along the side of a road

A sidewalk, pavement, footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway is a path along the side of a road. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone, or asphalt, it is designed for pedestrians. A sidewalk is normally higher than the roadway, and separated from it by a kerb. There may also be a planted strip between the sidewalk and the roadway and between the roadway and the adjacent land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street</span> Public thoroughfare in a built environment

A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable surface such as tarmac, concrete, cobblestone or brick. Portions may also be smoothed with asphalt, embedded with rails, or otherwise prepared to accommodate non-pedestrian traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curb extension</span> Traffic calming measure

A curb extension is a traffic calming measure which widens the sidewalk for a short distance. This reduces the crossing distance and allows pedestrians and drivers to see each other when parked vehicles would otherwise block visibility. The practice of banning car parking near intersections is referred to as daylighting the intersection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boulevard</span> Wide road with buildings on sides

A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Living street</span> Traffic calming in spaces shared between road users

A living street is a street designed with the interests of pedestrians and cyclists in mind by providing enriching and experiential spaces. Living streets also act as social spaces, allowing children to play and encouraging social interactions on a human scale, safely and legally. Living streets consider all pedestrians granting equal access to elders and those who are disabled. These roads are still available for use by motor vehicles; however, their design aims to reduce both the speed and dominance of motorized transport. The reduction of motor vehicle dominance creates more opportunities for public transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driveway</span> Type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures

A driveway is a private road for local access to one or a small group of structures owned and maintained by an individual or group.

The Millionaires' Mile, Millionaires' Row, Billionaires Row, Golden Mile or Alpha Street are the exclusive residential neighborhoods of various cities, often along one scenic strip such as a riverside or hilltop drive, or a wide city boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Rouge (Michigan)</span> River in Michigan

The River Rouge is a 127-mile river in the Metro Detroit area of southeastern Michigan. It flows into the Detroit River at Zug Island, which is the boundary between the cities of River Rouge and Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guerrilla gardening</span> Planting on land where not legally allowed

Guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening – raising food, plants, or flowers – on land that the gardeners do not have the legal rights to cultivate, such as abandoned sites, areas that are not being cared for, or private property. It encompasses a diverse range of people and motivations, ranging from gardeners who spill over their legal boundaries to gardeners with a political purpose, who seek to provoke change by using guerrilla gardening as a form of protest or direct action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioswale</span> Landscape elements designed to manage surface runoff water

Bioswales are channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution. Bioswales can also be beneficial in recharging groundwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alewife Brook Reservation</span> State park and reservation in Massachusetts, USA

Alewife Brook Reservation is a Massachusetts state park and urban wild located in Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville. The park is managed by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and was established in 1900. It is named for Alewife Brook, which was also historically known as Menotomy River, a tributary of the Mystic River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Street (Philadelphia)</span> Thoroughfare in Pennsylvania

Broad Street is a major arterial street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The street runs for approximately 13 miles (21 km), beginning at the intersection of Cheltenham Avenue on the border of Cheltenham Township and the West/East Oak Lane neighborhoods of North Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in South Philadelphia. It is Pennsylvania Route 611 along its entire length with the exception of its northernmost part between Old York Road and Pennsylvania Route 309 and the southernmost part south of Interstate 95.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curb</span> Edge where a sidewalk meets a road

A curb, or kerb, is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rain garden</span> Runoff reducing landscaping method

Rain gardens, also called bioretention facilities, are one of a variety of practices designed to increase rain runoff reabsorption by the soil. They can also be used to treat polluted stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are designed landscape sites that reduce the flow rate, total quantity, and pollutant load of runoff from impervious urban areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, parking lots, and compacted lawn areas. Rain gardens rely on plants and natural or engineered soil medium to retain stormwater and increase the lag time of infiltration, while remediating and filtering pollutants carried by urban runoff. Rain gardens provide a method to reuse and optimize any rain that falls, reducing or avoiding the need for additional irrigation. A benefit of planting rain gardens is the consequential decrease in ambient air and water temperature, a mitigation that is especially effective in urban areas containing an abundance of impervious surfaces that absorb heat in a phenomenon known as the heat-island effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonpoint source pollution</span> Pollution resulting from multiple sources

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution refers to diffuse contamination of water or air that does not originate from a single discrete source. This type of pollution is often the cumulative effect of small amounts of contaminants gathered from a large area. It is in contrast to point source pollution which results from a single source. Nonpoint source pollution generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage, seepage, or hydrological modification where tracing pollution back to a single source is difficult. Nonpoint source water pollution affects a water body from sources such as polluted runoff from agricultural areas draining into a river, or wind-borne debris blowing out to sea. Nonpoint source air pollution affects air quality, from sources such as smokestacks or car tailpipes. Although these pollutants have originated from a point source, the long-range transport ability and multiple sources of the pollutant make it a nonpoint source of pollution; if the discharges were to occur to a body of water or into the atmosphere at a single location, the pollution would be single-point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresh Pond Parkway</span> Parkway in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Fresh Pond Parkway is a historic park and parkway on the western end of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston. The parkway was built in 1899 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urban runoff</span> Surface runoff of water caused by urbanization

Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces are constructed during land development. During rain, storms, and other precipitation events, these surfaces, along with rooftops, carry polluted stormwater to storm drains, instead of allowing the water to percolate through soil. This causes lowering of the water table and flooding since the amount of water that remains on the surface is greater. Most municipal storm sewer systems discharge untreated stormwater to streams, rivers, and bays. This excess water can also make its way into people's properties through basement backups and seepage through building wall and floors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xeriscaping</span> Water conserving landscaping method

Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other regions as access to irrigation water has become limited, though it is not limited to such climates. Xeriscaping may be an alternative to various types of traditional gardening.

Sustainable landscaping is a modern type of gardening or landscaping that takes the environmental issue of sustainability into account. According to Loehrlein in 2009 this includes design, construction and management of residential and commercial gardens and incorporates organic lawn management and organic gardening techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System</span> United States historic place

The Indianapolis Park and Boulevard System is a group of parks, parkways, and boulevards in Indianapolis, Indiana, that was designed by landscape architect George Edward Kessler in the early part of the twentieth century. Also known as the Kessler System, the district includes 3,474 acres (1,406 ha) and has shaped the city through the present day. This historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Street Trees / Tree Lawn". Worthington. City of Worthington, Ohio . Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Designing Sidewalks and Trails for Access, Part II of II: Best Practices Design Guide, Section 10.1.3: Maintenance responsibilities". Bicycle and Pedestrian Program. Federal Highways Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. 25 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 Delost, Jeremy (19 September 2009). "Passive Rainwater Harvesting". The Rainwater Observer. Archived from the original on 23 December 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Parkway Landscaping Policy for the City of Santa Monica (PDF), City of Santa Monica, California, 1 February 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2010, retrieved 7 July 2010
  5. ↑ "Pruning the Parkway Strip". WaterWise. 4 (3). 14 March 2007. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  6. 1 2 Briggs, Helen (6 June 2015). "Roadside verges 'last refuge for wild flowers'". BBC News . Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 "Why road verges are important habitats for wildflowers and animals". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  8. ↑ "Sustainable Stormwater Management" . Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  9. 1 2 "Roadside Conservation Values". Indigo Shire Council. Indigo Shire Council. 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Western Australia. Roadside Conservation Committee (1995), Roadsides -- the vital link : a decade of roadside conservation in Western Australia (1985-1995), Roadside Conservation Committee, retrieved 2012-04-14
  11. ↑ Greppin, John A. C. (1 February 2002). "The triumph of slang". The Times Literary Supplement. Times Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road? (Harvard Dialect Survey)".
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hall, Joan Houston, ed. (2013). Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume VI: Contrastive Maps, Index to Entry Labels, Questionnaire, and Fieldwork Data (1st ed.). Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0674066533.[ page needed ]
  14. ↑ "Between the sidewalk and the curb". The Atlantic. 7 December 1998. Retrieved 19 May 2020.[ dead link ]
  15. ↑ Boulevard Gardening Guidelines (PDF), City of Vancouver, British Columbia, retrieved 28 October 2017
  16. ↑ "TORONTO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 743, STREETS AND SIDEWALKS, USE OF" (PDF). Toronto. June 11, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Standard Specifications, City of Kitchener" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2018-08-28.
  18. ↑ "Departments : Public Services : Public Works : Fall Leaf Collection". City of Kalamazoo. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
  19. ↑ Rona Proudfoot (March 26, 2012). "Police find man dead in curb lawn". The Chronicle-Telegram. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
  20. ↑ "Who Do I Call?". City of Troy. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
  21. ↑ "Design and Specifications Manual". City of Greenville. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
  22. ↑ "Mr. Smarty Pants". The Austin Chronicle . 2000-12-29.
  23. ↑ Cassidy, Frederic Gomes; Hall, Joan Houston (1985). Dictionary of American Regional English: Introduction and A-C (6th ed.). Harvard University Press. p.  55. ISBN   978-0-674-20511-6 . Retrieved 2009-03-20. devil strip.
  24. ↑ Dyer, Bob (August 8, 2012). "Akron's Grass is One of a Kind". Akron Beacon Journal . Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  25. ↑ Hilton, George W.; Due, John F. (1960). The Electric Interurban Railways in America . Stanford University Press. p.  51. ISBN   978-0-8047-4014-2.
  26. ↑ Foster Road Transportation & Streetscape Plan (PDF), Office of Transportation, City of Portland, Oregon, 9 July 2003, pp. 10–12 and 14–15
  27. ↑ Hadden, Evelyn (2014). Hellstrip Gardening: Create a Paradise between the Sidewalk and the Curb. Photography by Joshua McCullough. Timber Press. ISBN   978-1604693324.
  28. ↑ "Australian Word Map". The Macquarie Dictionary. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  29. ↑ Random House Unabridged Dictionary. Random House, Inc. 1997.
  30. ↑ "Weed Abatement". City of Ashland. City of Ashland, Oregon . Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  31. 1 2 3 Guralnik, David B., ed. (1970). Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (Second College ed.). The World Publishing Company.
  32. ↑ "Parkway Standards". Community Development, City of Casper, Wyoming. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  33. ↑ "Xeric Parkway Strip: Xeriscape Plants for Tough Conditions". The Gardens on Spring Creek. City of Fort Collins, Colorado. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  34. ↑ "Codes & Manuals". Center for Applied Transect Studies. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  35. ↑ "Tree Planting". TREES/PARKS. Parks Division, City of Berkeley, California . Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  36. ↑ "Food Gardening". City of Seattle, Washington . Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  37. ↑ "Roads". City of Ottawa. City of Ottawa, Ontario. 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  38. ↑ "Nature Strip". The Local Government & Municipal Knowledge Base. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  39. ↑ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, copyright 2007, page 1389
  40. ↑ Dickstein, Corey (20 July 2009). "Sidewalk lawns now residents' responsibility". Savannah Morning News. Gatehouse Media, LLC.
  41. ↑ "Urban Forestry - Adopt-a-Tree Program". City of Fort Lauderdale. City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  42. ↑ "More Green Services | DC". dc.gov.
  43. ↑ "City Of Buffalo Street Tree Planting Guidelines". City Of Buffalo. City of Buffalo, NY . Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  44. ↑ "Open By-laws South Africa". Open By-laws South Africa. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  45. ↑ "Verge". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
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