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TABLES (short title) I 2. Acreages of mown <strong>verges</strong> by class of <strong>road</strong>. Somerset and Glamorgan. Table 1. Total acreage, and average acreage per mile of mown <strong>verges</strong>. I 3. Number of County Highway Authorities giving stated reasons for management. 4. Suggested priorities for the reasons. 17 5. Management of rural <strong>road</strong>side <strong>verges</strong> by County Councils. 22 1 6. Grass cutting programmes for Trunk and Principal <strong>road</strong>s. 28 I I I 7. Types of cutting machines used. 8. Use of selective weed killers on <strong>road</strong>side <strong>verges</strong>. 9. Use of chemical sprays for control of growth of vegetation on <strong>road</strong>side <strong>verges</strong>. 36 10. Cost per mile per season of grass cutting on different classes of <strong>road</strong> (from Marshall Committee report). 11. SMV's for different aspects of verge management (from Marshall Committee report). I 12. Cost per mile per season on different classes of <strong>road</strong> (data from 1972 survey). 43 I 13. County Council mileages of wholly maintained <strong>road</strong>s. 14. Costs per acre of cutting or spraying. I 1.5. Cost of grass cutting as a percentage of all highway maintenance expenditure. 47 I 16. Use of standard DOE grass seed specification. 17. Grass seed specificatiorsfor <strong>road</strong>works on non-grant-aided 51 <strong>road</strong>s. 52 1 18. Policies for tree planting on highway land by County Councils. 62 19. Forms of boundary reinstatement following <strong>road</strong>works. 65 3 5 8
SUMMARY This report is based on visits to 45 English and 13 Welsh County Council Highway Departments in 1972 and its object is to give information on the factors affecting the management of land associated with public highways in rural areas. The report is written from the point of view that this land provides habitats for wild plants and animals. An estimate is made of approximately 440,000 acres in the category of 'associated habitat* within the functional boundary of rural highways (excluding the metalled <strong>road</strong>way), of which approximately 240,000 acres are grassland managed by mowing and the remainder ditches, boundary features and waste land. Average costs of mowing for 1971 were: Trunk <strong>road</strong>s 263 per mile, Class 1237, Class I1 230, Class 111 224 and Unclassified <strong>road</strong>s 222; a figure of approximately S3 million was estimated for the overall cost of grass mowing in England and Wales, representing about 4.97% of the overall highway maintenance budget. Costs of tractor mowing have been calculated at an average of 23.50 per acre per occasion, which is considered to be low, for comparison with spraying of growth retarder plus selective weedkiller at 211.31 per acre. The functions of <strong>road</strong>side <strong>verges</strong> are discussed and related to the reasons for their management in terms of engineering and safety, amenity, weed control, conservation and public relations. The management policies and practices of the 58 counties are described and attention is drawn to the wide range of programmes and methods used. Mowing was almost universally by flail machine, handwork and other machines having been almost entirely superseded. Chemical spraying for total weed control was practiced by all counties; selective weedkillers, mainly for the localised control of agricultural weeds, were used by a majority of counties but about a third did not use them. Growth-retarder sprays, usually with the addition of selective weedkillers, to reduce mowing, were only used extensively by five counties (of which one did not propose to use them in 1973)- to a lesser extent by three counties and to a minor extent by eight counties. The physical structure of <strong>verges</strong> is discussed and related to factors such as drainage and the desirability of vehicles using the verge as a pull-off. Different kinds of material used to construct or make up <strong>verges</strong>, and the possible long term effects of these on the vegetation are described, together with the grass seed mixtures used for reseeding bare areas. Attitudes of County Highway Departments to highway tree planting in general, and boundary reinstatement with especial reference to hedges are noted together with problems of management of established hedges and <strong>road</strong>side ditches. iii
Page 1 and 2: ROAD VERGES ON RURAL ROADS Manageme
Page 3: Summary INDEX Chapter 1 Extent and
Page 8 and 9: and may sometimes be ignored. Counc
Page 10 and 11: - 4 - Using the average figure of 1
Page 12 and 13: explain aberrant results for any of
Page 14 and 15: Table 3. Number of County Highway A
Page 16 and 17: - 10 - The purpose of these remarks
Page 18 and 19: Fire and snow control were other hi
Page 20 and 21: (Conium maculatum) by three countie
Page 22 and 23: degree of polarisation of ideas bet
Page 24 and 25: Table 4. Suggested prioritiea that
Page 26 and 27: quantity of product but not quality
Page 28 and 29: July 1971 Letter HE 138/4/02 to Div
Page 30 and 31: COUNTY TRUNX PRINCIPAL CLASS 11 CLA
Page 32 and 33: COUNTY TRUNK PlllNCIPlL CLASS I1 CL
Page 34: COUNTY TRUNK, CUSS I, CUSS 11, CUSS
Page 37 and 38: u. Type* of cutting machines uaed i
Page 39 and 40: machines are also more difficult th
Page 41 and 42: for application of herbicide in a p
Page 43 and 44: u9. Use of Ch-isol #prays (MH with
Page 45 and 46: Carmarthen - to liberate machines f
Page 47 and 48: Table 10. Cost per mile per season
Page 49 and 50: 2. Rear mounted flail: multi-swath.
Page 51 and 52: The figures can be compared with th
Page 53 and 54: -. Costa per acre per occasion for
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- 48 - The average of 4.97 can be c
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flush verges are p
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=. Individual couniy specifications
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In the building up of verge
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CHAPTER 6. HIGHWAY TREE PLANTING; B
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BOUNDARY REINSTATENENT Following th
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Whether the landowner or the Counci
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T ~ 18. ~ policies I ~ for tree pla
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Cardiganahire Camthenshire svll of
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