Road verge

File:Massachusetts-devils strip.JPG, Massachusetts. Outside of rural areas in New England, devil strips are narrow – the one pictured is {{convert|52|in|cm 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. 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,{{cite web|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bicycle_pedestrian/publications/sidewalk2/sidewalks210.cfm |title=Designing Sidewalks and Trails for Access, Part II of II: Best Practices Design Guide, Section 10.1.3: Maintenance responsibilities|date=25 September 2017 |work=Bicycle and Pedestrian Program |publisher=Federal Highways Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation |access-date= 10 March 2018}} 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{{cite web |url=http://www.rainwatercollecting.com/blog/?p=448 |title=Passive Rainwater Harvesting |access-date=7 July 2010 |date=19 September 2009 |first=Jeremy |last=Delost |work=The Rainwater Observer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223200107/http://www.rainwatercollecting.com/blog/?p=448 |archive-date=23 December 2009 }}{{citation |url=http://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/OSE/Categories/Landscape/PLP%2005.27.09.pdf |title=Parkway Landscaping Policy for the City of Santa Monica |date=1 February 2010 |publisher=City of Santa Monica, California |access-date= 7 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612182146/http://smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/OSE/Categories/Landscape/PLP%2005.27.09.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2010 }}{{cite journal |url=http://www.enewsbuilder.net/watercon/e_article000771115.cfm?x=bbrDcbK,b2FRwTrq,w |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722043546/http://www.enewsbuilder.net/watercon/e_article000771115.cfm?x=bbrDcbK,b2FRwTrq,w |archive-date=22 July 2011 |title=Pruning the Parkway Strip |journal=WaterWise |volume=4 |number=3 |date=14 March 2007 |access-date= 7 July 2010}} 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|date=March 2016}}

In the British Isles, road verges serve as important habitats for a range of plants, including rare wildflowers.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33029385 |title=Roadside verges 'last refuge for wild flowers' |work=BBC News |last=Briggs |first=Helen |date=6 June 2015 |access-date=6 June 2015}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Why road verges are important habitats for wildflowers and animals |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/why-road-verges-are-important-wildlife-habitats.html |access-date=2023-04-26 |website=www.nhm.ac.uk |language=en}} 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.

File:Roadside Verge.jpg, England, indicating that the verge is being managed by the local council to maintain populations of wild plants]]

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|date=March 2016}}

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

File:Treelawn2.JPG 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.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.portlandonline.com/BES/index.cfm?c=34598|title=Sustainable Stormwater Management|access-date=2010-04-28}}

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.{{Citation |author1=Western Australia. Roadside Conservation Committee |title=Roadsides -- the vital link : a decade of roadside conservation in Western Australia (1985-1995) |date=1995 |publisher=Roadside Conservation Committee |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/23235561 |access-date=2012-04-14 }}

Gallery

File:Ginkgo Riverside, Illinois.JPG|Ginkgo street trees in the "boulevard" area, in Riverside, Illinois

File:Treelawn1.JPG|A planted garden in the "tree lawn", in Raleigh, North Carolina

File:Oak Park Boulevard.jpg|A "parkway" with street trees in Oak Park, Illinois

File:Tree Lawn at Night.jpg|A tree lawn with street trees in Shaker Heights, Ohio

File:A Tree Lawn in Daytime.jpg|A tree lawn with street trees in Shaker Heights, Ohio

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/the-triumph-of-slang/ |title=The triumph of slang|first=John A. C. |last=Greppin |date=1 February 2002 |work=The Times Literary Supplement |publisher=Times Newspapers Limited |access-date=10 March 2018}}{{cite web | url = http://dialect.redlog.net/staticmaps/q_60.html | title = What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road? (Harvard Dialect Survey)}}

Terms used include:

Berm: Pennsylvania, northern Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Zealand{{cite book |title=Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume VI: Contrastive Maps, Index to Entry Labels, Questionnaire, and Fieldwork Data |edition=1st |editor-first=Joan Houston |editor-last=Hall |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0674066533 |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000unse_a4m8 }}{{page needed|date=June 2022}}
Besidewalk{{ cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/fugitives/sidewalk.html|title=Between the sidewalk and the curb|publisher=The Atlantic|date=7 December 1998|access-date=19 May 2020}}{{dead link|date=February 2021}}
Boulevard: Detroit, Michigan; North Dakota; Minnesota; Iowa; Illinois; Ohio; Wisconsin; United States Upper Midwest; Winnipeg, and western Canada;{{citation|url=http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/boulevard-gardening-guidelines.pdf|title=Boulevard Gardening Guidelines |publisher=City of Vancouver, British Columbia |access-date=28 October 2017}} Toronto, Ontario;{{Cite web|date=June 11, 2020|title=TORONTO MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 743, STREETS AND SIDEWALKS, USE OF|url=https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_743.pdf|website=Toronto}} Markham, Ontario; Kitchener, Ontario{{Cite web |url=https://www.kitchener.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/Documents/DSD_ENG_C-of-K---Standard-Specifications_November-2017.pdf |title=Standard Specifications, City of Kitchener |access-date=2018-08-28 |archive-date=2018-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828071140/https://www.kitchener.ca/en/resourcesGeneral/Documents/DSD_ENG_C-of-K---Standard-Specifications_November-2017.pdf |url-status=dead }}
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;{{ cite web |url=http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/pubserve.php?page_id=312 |title=Departments : Public Services : Public Works : Fall Leaf Collection |publisher=City of Kalamazoo |access-date=2012-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920053125/http://www.kalamazoocity.org/portal/pubserve.php?page_id=312 |archive-date=2012-09-20 }} Elyria, Ohio;{{ cite news |url=http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2012/03/26/police-find-man-dead-in-curb-lawn/ |title=Police find man dead in curb lawn |publisher=The Chronicle-Telegram |author=Rona Proudfoot |date=March 26, 2012 |access-date=2012-06-15 }} Miami County, Ohio;{{ cite web |url=http://www.troyohio.gov/whotocall.html |title=Who Do I Call? |publisher=City of Troy |access-date=2012-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510152625/http://www.troyohio.gov/whotocall.html |archive-date=2012-05-10 }} Greenville, South Carolina{{ cite web |url=http://www.greenvillesc.gov/publicworks/EngineeringDSM.aspx |title=Design and Specifications Manual |publisher=City of Greenville |year=2012 |access-date=2012-06-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605232652/http://www.greenvillesc.gov/PublicWorks/EngineeringDSM.aspx |archive-date=2012-06-05 }}
Curb strip: New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington
Devil strip or devilstrip: Akron, Ohio; Northeast Ohio.{{cite web|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A79961|title=Mr. Smarty Pants|work=The Austin Chronicle|date=2000-12-29}}{{cite book |title=Dictionary of American Regional English: Introduction and A-C |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer01arie |url-access=registration |quote=devil strip. |page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer01arie/page/55 55]|author=Cassidy, Frederic Gomes |author2=Hall, Joan Houston |edition=6th |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1985 |isbn =978-0-674-20511-6 |access-date=2009-03-20 }}{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Dyer |title=Akron's Grass is One of a Kind |url=http://www.ohio.com/news/dyer/bob-dyer-akron-s-grass-is-one-of-a-kind-1.325843 |work=Akron Beacon Journal |date=August 8, 2012 |access-date=August 11, 2012 }} 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.{{cite book |title=The Electric Interurban Railways in America |url=https://archive.org/details/electricinterurb00hilt |url-access=registration |first1=George W. |last1=Hilton |first2=John F. |last2=Due |isbn=978-0-8047-4014-2 |publisher=Stanford University Press |date=1960 |page=[https://archive.org/details/electricinterurb00hilt/page/51 51]}}
Drivestrip or Drive Strip
Extension lawn: Ann Arbor, Michigan{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
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{{citation |url=http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/370416 |format=PDF |title=Foster Road Transportation & Streetscape Plan |publisher=Office of Transportation, City of Portland, Oregon |date=9 July 2003 |pages=10–12 and 14–15}}
Grassplot: East Coast of the United States, Pennsylvania
Governor’s Strip: Delaware
Hellstrip{{cite book|title=Hellstrip Gardening: Create a Paradise between the Sidewalk and the Curb |first=Evelyn |last=Hadden |others=Photography by Joshua McCullough |publisher=Timber Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1604693324 }}
Island strip: Long Island, New York{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}
Long acre – a traditional term for wide grassy road verges, used by grazing herds or flocks moving from place to place
Median: Washington, Oregon{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}
Mow strip: SF East Bay Area Northern California
Nature strip: Australia{{cite web|title=Australian Word Map |url= https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/aus/word/map/search/word/nature%20strip/Gippsland/|work=The Macquarie Dictionary|access-date=2 September 2021}}
Neutral ground: U.S. Gulf states{{cite book |title=Random House Unabridged Dictionary |year=1997 |publisher=Random House, Inc. |url=http://dictionary.infoplease.com/neutral-ground}}
Park strip: Ohio, Utah
Parking: Illinois, Iowa, Western United States
Parking strip: Washington, Oregon, Utah, much of California
Parkrow: Iowa, Oregon{{cite web |url=http://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=13559 |title=Weed Abatement |work=City of Ashland |publisher=City of Ashland, Oregon |access-date=12 October 2017}}
Parkway: Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greater Los Angeles; San Francisco Bay Area; West Coast of the United States; Casper, Wyoming; Ohio; Illinois; Missouri; Florida; Texas{{cite book |title=Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language |edition=Second College |year=1970 |editor-last=Guralnik |editor-first=David B. |publisher=The World Publishing Company|title-link=Webster's New World Dictionary }}{{cite web|title=Parkway Standards|url=https://www.casperwy.gov/government/departments/community_development/code_enforcement/parkway_standards|publisher=Community Development, City of Casper, Wyoming|access-date=24 June 2022}}
Parkway strip: Austin, Texas; Fort Collins, Colorado{{cite web|url=https://www.fcgov.com/gardens/our-gardens/xeric-parkway-strip|title=Xeric Parkway Strip: Xeriscape Plants for Tough Conditions |date= 7 July 2010 |work=The Gardens on Spring Creek |publisher=City of Fort Collins, Colorado |access-date=10 March 2018}}
Planter zone: SmartCode/New Urbanist terminology{{cite web|url=http://www.transect.org/codes.html|title=Codes & Manuals |publisher=Center for Applied Transect Studies |access-date=19 June 2011}}
Planting strip: Berkeley, California,{{cite web |url=https://www.cityofberkeley.info/tree_planting |title=Tree Planting |work=TREES/PARKS |publisher=Parks Division, City of Berkeley, California |access-date=29 December 2017}} Seattle, Washington{{cite web |url=http://www.seattle.gov/utilities/environment-and-conservation/lawn-and-garden/food-gardening/planting-strips |title=Food Gardening |publisher=City of Seattle, Washington |access-date=2 November 2019}}
Right-of-way: Wisconsin, Illinois
Road allowance: Ottawa, Canada{{cite web |url=http://ottawa.ca/en/social_com/rural/roadmaintenance/ruralroads/index.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115155148/http://ottawa.ca/en/social_com/rural/roadmaintenance/ruralroads/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date= 15 January 2013 |title= Roads |work=City of Ottawa |publisher=City of Ottawa, Ontario |year=2012 |access-date= 24 July 2012}}
Road verge: Australia{{cite web|url=http://www.lgam.info/nature-strip|title=Nature Strip|work=The Local Government & Municipal Knowledge Base |access-date=22 March 2012}}{{unreliable source?|date=March 2018}}
Roadside: Australia{{cite web |url=http://www.indigoshire.vic.gov.au/residents/natural-resource-management/roadside-management/roadside-conservation-values/index.html |title=Roadside Conservation Values |work=Indigo Shire Council |publisher=Indigo Shire Council |date=2007 |access-date=10 March 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=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 |archive-date=8 November 2007 }}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
ShoulderMerriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, copyright 2007, page 1389
Sidewalk lawn: Georgia{{cite news |last=Dickstein |first=Corey |date=20 July 2009 |title=Sidewalk lawns now residents' responsibility |work=Savannah Morning News |publisher=Gatehouse Media, LLC |url=http://www.savannahnow.com/article/20090720/NEWS/307209897}}
Sidewalk plot: Virginia, Maryland, Indiana, Tennessee
Sidewalk strip: California, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah, Washington{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
Street lawn: Ohio{{cite web|url=http://www.worthington.org/index.aspx?NID=299|title=Street Trees / Tree Lawn|work=Worthington |publisher=City of Worthington, Ohio |access-date= 31 August 2012}}
Subway: Western New York{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
Swale: South Florida{{cite web |url=http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/life/urban_forestry/treeadopt.htm |title=Urban Forestry - Adopt-a-Tree Program |work=City of Fort Lauderdale |publisher=City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida |access-date=29 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308010601/http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/life/urban_forestry/treeadopt.htm |archive-date=8 March 2012 }}
Terrace: U.S. Great Lakes region, Missouri
Tree bank: The Fox River Valley including Elgin, Illinois.{{cite web |title= An Ordinance Regulating Tree Bank Parking (1976)|url=https://lf-portal.cityofelgin.net/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=72104&dbid=0&repo=Elgin-Public&cr=1|access-date=2024-12-08}} It states that "'Tree bank' means that area between the curb, the extended curb or lateral roadway line and the property line." Nearby localities with similar references include St. Charles, Geneva, East Dundee, West Dundee, Carpentersville and Algonquin.
Tree belt: Massachusetts
Tree box: Washington, DC{{cite web |title=More Green Services {{!}} DC |url=https://dc.gov/service/more-green-services |website=dc.gov}}
Tree lawn or treelawn: Ohio, Indiana, New York, and elsewhere{{cite web |url=https://www.buffalony.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1845/City-of-Buffalo-Street-Tree-Planting-Guidelines-PDF |title=City Of Buffalo Street Tree Planting Guidelines |work=City Of Buffalo |publisher= City of Buffalo, NY| access-date=19 April 2021}}
Verge: UK, New Zealand, South Africa,{{Cite web|url=https://openbylaws.org.za/|title=Open By-laws South Africa|website=Open By-laws South Africa|access-date=2020-04-29}} Western Australia{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verge|title=Verge|access-date= 7 July 2010 |work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Incorporated}}

References

External links

[http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/infernogarden.php Parkway] with xeric garden photographs
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090221085936/http://www.mrexcel.com/devilstrip.html Devil Strips] – term's use and lore

Category:Urban studies and planning terminology

Category:Hydrology and urban planning

Category:Environmental design

Category:Water conservation

Category:Types of garden