Road verge explained

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. 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.

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,^[1] 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^{[2] [3]} 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.

In the British Isles, road verges serve as important habitats for a range of florae, including rare wildflowers.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.

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.

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.

Sustainable urban and landscape design

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.^[2]

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.

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.

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.^[6]

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.

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.^{[7] [8]}

Terms used include:

• Berm: Pennsylvania, northern Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Zealand^[9]
• Besidewalk^[10]
• Boulevard: Detroit, Michigan; North Dakota; Minnesota; Iowa; Illinois; Ohio; Wisconsin; United States Upper Midwest;^[9] Winnipeg, and western Canada; Toronto, Ontario;^[11] Markham, Ontario; Kitchener, Ontario^[12]
• Boulevard strip: U.S. Upper Midwest
• Common: New England, generally describes a large strip of grass. Also refers to park-like common-use green spaces in small town centers.
• Curb lawn: Kalamazoo, Michigan;^[13] Elyria, Ohio;^[14] Miami County, Ohio;^[15] Greenville, South Carolina^[16]
• Curb strip: New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington^[9]
• Devil strip or devilstrip: Akron, Ohio; Northeast Ohio.^{[17] [18] [19]} This term was once used more widely to refer to the space between tracks on a streetcar line, a space not wide enough to stand in as cars passed.^[20]
• Drivestrip or Drive Strip
• Extension lawn: Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Furniture zone, also landscape zone: a term used by urban planners, indicating its suitability for "street furniture" such as utility poles and fire hydrants, as well as trees or planters
• Grassplot: East Coast of the United States, Pennsylvania^[9]
• Governor’s Strip: Delaware
• Hellstrip^[21]
• Island strip: Long Island, New York
• Long acre – a traditional term for wide grassy road verges, used by grazing herds or flocks moving from place to place
• Median: Washington, Oregon
• Mow strip: SF East Bay Area Northern California
• Nature strip: Australia^[22]
• Neutral ground: U.S. Gulf states^{[9] [23]}
• Park strip: Ohio, Utah
• Parking: Illinois, Iowa, Western United States^[9]
• Parking strip: Washington, Oregon, Utah, much of California^[9]
• Parkrow: Iowa, Oregon^[24]
• Parkway: Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greater Los Angeles; San Francisco Bay Area; West Coast of the United States; Casper, Wyoming; Ohio; Illinois; Missouri; Florida; Texas^{[9] [25] [26]}
• Parkway strip: Austin, Texas; Fort Collins, Colorado^[27]
• Planter zone: SmartCode/New Urbanist terminology^[28]
• Planting strip: Berkeley, California,^[29] Seattle, Washington^[30]
• Right-of-way: Wisconsin, Illinois
• Road allowance: Ottawa, Canada^[31]
• Road verge: Australia^[32]
• Roadside: Australia^[33]
• Shoulder^[34]
• Sidewalk lawn: Georgia^[35]
• Sidewalk plot: Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, Tennessee^[9]
• Sidewalk strip: California, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington
• Sidewalk taint: Central Indiana
• Street lawn: Ohio^[36]
• Subway: Western New York
• Swale: South Florida^[37]
• Terrace: U.S. Great Lakes region, Missouri^[9]
• Tree belt: Massachusetts^[9]
• Tree box: Washington, DC^[38]
• Tree lawn or treelawn: Ohio, Indiana, New York, and elsewhere^{[9] [39]}
• Verge: UK, New Zealand, South Africa,^[40] Western Australia^{[41] [25]}

See also

• • Central reservation
• Roadside conservation
• Shoulder (road)
• Urban forestry

External links

• Parkway with xeric garden photographs
• Devil Strips – term's use and lore

Notes and References

1. Web site: Designing Sidewalks and Trails for Access, Part II of II: Best Practices Design Guide, Section 10.1.3: Maintenance responsibilities. 25 September 2017 . Bicycle and Pedestrian Program . Federal Highways Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation . 10 March 2018.
2. Web site: Passive Rainwater Harvesting . 7 July 2010 . 19 September 2009 . Jeremy . Delost . The Rainwater Observer . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091223200107/http://www.rainwatercollecting.com/blog/?p=448 . 23 December 2009 .
3. Pruning the Parkway Strip . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110722043546/http://www.enewsbuilder.net/watercon/e_article000771115.cfm?x=bbrDcbK,b2FRwTrq,w . 22 July 2011 . WaterWise . 4 . 3 . 14 March 2007 . 7 July 2010.
4. News: Roadside verges 'last refuge for wild flowers' . . Briggs . Helen . 6 June 2015 . 6 June 2015.
5. Web site: Why road verges are important habitats for wildflowers and animals . 2023-04-26 . www.nhm.ac.uk . en.
6. Web site: Sustainable Stormwater Management. 2010-04-28.
7. News: The triumph of slang. John A. C. . Greppin . 1 February 2002 . The Times Literary Supplement . Times Newspapers Limited . 10 March 2018.
8. Web site: What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road? (Harvard Dialect Survey).
9. Book: Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume VI: Contrastive Maps, Index to Entry Labels, Questionnaire, and Fieldwork Data . 1st . Joan Houston . Hall . Harvard University Press . 2013 . 978-0674066533 .
10. Web site: Between the sidewalk and the curb. The Atlantic. 7 December 1998. 19 May 2020.
11. Web site: June 11, 2020. TORONTO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 743, STREETS AND SIDEWALKS, USE OF. Toronto.
12. Web site: Standard Specifications, City of Kitchener . 2018-08-28 . 2018-08-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180828071140/https://www.kitchener.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/Documents/DSD_ENG_C-of-K---Standard-Specifications_November-2017.pdf . dead .
13. Web site: Departments : Public Services : Public Works : Fall Leaf Collection . City of Kalamazoo . 2012-06-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120920053125/http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/pubserve.php?page_id=312 . 2012-09-20 .
14. News: Police find man dead in curb lawn . The Chronicle-Telegram . Rona Proudfoot . March 26, 2012 . 2012-06-15 .
15. Web site: Who Do I Call? . . 2012-06-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120510152625/http://www.troyohio.gov/whotocall.html . 2012-05-10 .
16. Web site: Design and Specifications Manual . City of Greenville . 2012 . 2012-06-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120605232652/http://www.greenvillesc.gov/PublicWorks/EngineeringDSM.aspx . 2012-06-05 .
17. Web site: Mr. Smarty Pants. The Austin Chronicle. 2000-12-29.
18. Book: Dictionary of American Regional English: Introduction and A-C . registration . devil strip. . 55. Cassidy, Frederic Gomes . Hall, Joan Houston . 6th . Harvard University Press . 1985 . 978-0-674-20511-6 . 2009-03-20 .
19. News: Bob . Dyer . Akron's Grass is One of a Kind . . August 8, 2012 . August 11, 2012 .
20. Book: The Electric Interurban Railways in America . registration . George W. . Hilton . John F. . Due . 978-0-8047-4014-2 . Stanford University Press . 1960 . 51.
21. Book: Hadden, Evelyn . Hellstrip Gardening: Create a Paradise between the Sidewalk and the Curb . Photography by Joshua McCullough . Timber Press . 2014 . 978-1604693324 .
22. Web site: Australian Word Map . The Macquarie Dictionary. 2 September 2021.
23. Book: Random House Unabridged Dictionary . 1997 . Random House, Inc. .
24. Web site: Weed Abatement . City of Ashland . . 12 October 2017.
25. Book: Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language . Second College . 1970 . Guralnik . David B. . The World Publishing Company. Webster's New World Dictionary .
26. Web site: Parkway Standards. Community Development, City of Casper, Wyoming. 24 June 2022.
27. Web site: Xeric Parkway Strip: Xeriscape Plants for Tough Conditions . 7 July 2010 . The Gardens on Spring Creek . . 10 March 2018.
28. Web site: Codes & Manuals . Center for Applied Transect Studies . 19 June 2011.
29. Web site: Tree Planting . TREES/PARKS . . 29 December 2017.
30. Web site: Food Gardening . . 2 November 2019.
31. Web site: Roads . https://archive.today/20130115155148/http://ottawa.ca/en/social_com/rural/roadmaintenance/ruralroads/index.htm . dead . 15 January 2013 . City of Ottawa . City of Ottawa, Ontario . 2012 . 24 July 2012.
32. Web site: Nature Strip. The Local Government & Municipal Knowledge Base . 22 March 2012.
33. Web site: Roadside Conservation Values . Indigo Shire Council . Indigo Shire Council . 2007 . 10 March 2018 . dead . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20071108214700/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/79254/20071109-0847/www.indigoshire.vic.gov.au/residents/natural-resource-management/roadside-management/roadside-conservation-values/index.html . 8 November 2007 .
34. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, copyright 2007, page 1389
35. News: Dickstein . Corey . 20 July 2009 . Sidewalk lawns now residents' responsibility . Savannah Morning News . Gatehouse Media, LLC .
36. Web site: Street Trees / Tree Lawn. Worthington . . 31 August 2012.
37. Web site: Urban Forestry - Adopt-a-Tree Program . City of Fort Lauderdale . . 29 October 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120308010601/http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/life/urban_forestry/treeadopt.htm . 8 March 2012 .
38. Web site: More Green Services DC . dc.gov.
39. Web site: City Of Buffalo Street Tree Planting Guidelines . City Of Buffalo . City of Buffalo, NY. 19 April 2021.
40. Web site: Open By-laws South Africa. Open By-laws South Africa. 2020-04-29.
41. Web site: Verge. 7 July 2010 . Merriam-Webster Dictionary . Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.