Editing Road verge (section)

{{Short description|Vegetative strip beside a roadway}}
{{Redirect|Nature Strip|the racehorse|Nature Strip (horse)}}
[[File:Massachusetts-devils strip.JPG|thumb|A curb strip in suburban [[Greater Boston]], [[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 plant]]s, and sometimes also [[shrub]]s and [[tree]]s, located between a [[roadway]] and a [[sidewalk]].<ref name="worthington"/> 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 owner]]s to help maintain (e.g. [[irrigation|watering]], [[mowing]], [[edger|edging]], [[hedge trimmer|trimming]]/[[pruning]] and [[weed control|weeding]]) their respective verge areas, as well as clean the adjunct [[footpath]]s and [[street gutter|gutter]]s,<ref>{{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}}</ref> as a form of [[community service|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 shelter]]s, 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]]<ref name="rainwatercollecting">{{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 }}</ref><ref name="smgov">{{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 }}</ref><ref name="enewsbuilder">{{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}}</ref> 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 [[wildflower]]s.<ref name=BBC-verges>{{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}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="NHM-verges">{{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}}</ref> 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 [[Wildlife corridor|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.<ref name="NHM-verges"></ref> 

[[File:Roadside Verge.jpg|thumb|A sign on a road verge in [[Northumberland]], [[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.<ref name="NHM-verges"></ref>