COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 10, 2008

MOTION NO. 1

MOTION: Councillor J. Hannon

That the current practice of providing wide grass verges on new (and improved) roads be reviewed and consideration be given to utilising a maintenance free alternative, given the difficulties with maintenance of grass and the resultant unsightly appearance.

REPORT:

The matter is being considered, particularly in built up areas where street scapes can be developed without the need forgrass margins, however, much of the grassed areas are also being planted with trees to provide boulevard type avenues which improve the aesthetic quality of of the road network. 

Grass Verges are provided for two reasons,

(1) Utility services which are normally located in these areas can be accessed easily in the event of problems occuring in the future without the need for expensive excavation and restoration.  Because of the continually developing nature of the county road network there is considerably more re excavation of these areas than would normally be associated with a built up environment and it is cheaper to reinstate these areas with grass.

(2) They provide an environmentally pleasing aspect to our road network which can be augmented with tree and shrub planting which allows for future widening or provision of bus lanes / cycle tracks should it be necessary without the requirement of additional land.

Most of the grass margins are less than 2 metres wide and are maintained by our Parks Department.  The matter will be examined further with our Parks Department with a view to identifying a maintenance free alternative not involving excessive additional cost.