Traffic accompanying green
Traffic accompanying green (also path or road accompanying green ) is a collective term for all green areas and woody plantings belonging to a traffic route . Typical plantings are trees , grasses or bushes (for example common snowberries , woolly snowballs and alpine currants ). It should be noted that in Germany from March 2020, according to Section 40 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, the use of local sources , i.e. local seeds and local woody plants , is mandatory for plantings on adjacent roads .
The accompanying green must be cut back and maintained at regular intervals so that there is no danger to traffic ( traffic safety obligation ). Special requirements must be observed when laying out and selecting greenery along the road. For example, on the median, the roadside green is to be laid out in such a way that it does not serve as a potential source of food for animals . In addition, it must be ensured that the driver's view is not restricted in curves, as otherwise there is a risk that obstacles on the road or the end of a traffic jam will be recognized too late.
In Switzerland, bushes have been dispensed with on median strips since 2008. Apart from cost savings, the waiver is justified by the fact that, thanks to better headlights, such a glare protection is no longer necessary and the maintenance of the bushes has become more dangerous due to the increasing traffic. The project will be implemented in the planned renovation of such road sections.
tasks
The roadside green generally fulfills the following tasks:
- Roadside green makes a positive contribution to traffic safety, as it serves as a glare protection (so-called glare protection planting ) and can offer the road user a visual guide (for example as a "bar planting"). It also serves as privacy and noise protection for residents and to reduce the effects of wind and snow ( snow drift ). When leaving the road, it can serve as fall protection.
- In the sense of engineering biology, roadside green takes on the attachment of embankment areas and thus prevents their erosion.
- With the help of roadside vegetation manages to make the street space appealing ( road design ) and the road to integrate into the landscape ( landscape design ).
- Green and wooded areas create habitats for animals and plants and contribute to the creation of a biotope network ( landscape ecology ).