Environment and roads

Grass cutting

Keeping Hertfordshire's grass in trim

One of the essential roles for Hertfordshire Highways in the summer is cutting the verges in the county. As well as keeping our highways in shape, keeping the grass under control is essential to maintain road safety. Overgrown verges can limit how well road users can see especially at junctions and roundabouts, so it's essential that we deliver a good service.

Hertfordshire Highways is responsible for cutting the grass along the county's roads but some areas are maintained by the district/borough council. The table below explains who is responsible for what.

In many of the areas where the grass cutting is Hertfordshire Highways responsibility, the district or borough council chooses to enhance our service by cutting the grass more often or to a shorter length than is required for road safety standards.

The cutting facts

• we cut the verges in towns and villages to ensure that the grass does not exceed 15cm in height.
  
• we cut a 1.2m swathe of grass on rural roads to ensure that it does not grow to more than 25cm.
  
• we cut areas within site lines at hazardous bends, junctions, roundabouts, central reservations, major access points, bus stops, laybys, and the like, to ensure that the grass does not exceed 25cm in height.

Depending on how much the grass has grown, we usually start cutting in mid March and finish in mid October.

We do not tend to collect the grass we cut as it will soon mulch down which is good for the soil, but we do ensure that cuttings are not left lying on roads and footpaths.

You may sometimes come across an area of grass that has not been cut when you believe it should have been. Here are some of the reasons why we may not have trimmed the verge:

• Until the end of May clumps of grass will be left around any daffodils to let the flowers die back naturally.
  
• A small number of verges in the county are listed as 'heritage verges'. This means that protected wild flowers or wildlife habitats are found on or within the verge and for this reason we will only cut the grass at the most appropriate time.
  
• If a road is part of a new development it may not yet have been adopted by Hertfordshire Highways. If this is the case it is the responsibility of the developer to cut the roadside verges.
  
• If utilities such as electricity or gas companies carry out work to a verge and do not complete it to our satisfaction we will not cut the verge until the work has been finished correctly.

If you spot any problems with grass cutting use our fault reporting online at www.hertsdirect.org/highwayfaults

Who does what in your area?

Hertfordshire Highways is only responsible for cutting grass along the county's highways. District/borough councils are responsible for cutting grass around open spaces and on play areas in addition to the areas outlined in the table.

The Highways Agency is responsible for maintaining all aspects of the motorways and trunk roads in the county, including the grass verges.