Seeking a word

I'm not sure if there's a specific word to describe what I'm thinking of.

I need to describe a cleared out strip of land between a road and some woods.
The only thing that came to my mind was an easement but I'm not sure that fits if I'm describing land where even the woods are owned by the government.

 

Boulevard maybe

 

A shallow ditch? Typically there's a dip on the sides of roads between the roads and woods for water runoff, even if it's just a very shallow incline.

 

Might be a regional thing - we'd call it the verge, where I am.

 

Yup, I'd never thought about "verge" in that manner but after looking up the definition it fits perfectly. Thanks.

 

I have never heard of verge either. Where are you from @BayView ?

 

Ontario, Canada.

 

Good ol' England has grass verges at the side of the road, where pavements have not been laid.

 

Like Bayview said, it's a verge. But if you're talking about the first 5 feet or so (depends on the law) that's called a setback. Basically, this strip of land, which most homeowners mistakenly think is theirs, is owned by the government.

 

But in the scene at hand, the land beyond the verge is also gov't land. Would there still be a setback? Maybe, if, for example, there were two different levels of government involved...?

 

There'd still presumably be a setback that would belong to the city or county for possible infrastructure improvements. I'm guessing the land would belong to the state (providence) and not the city, but as anyone reading this can probably tell by now, I'm well out of my depth.

Either way, I just reread the OP and you're right. Any mention about a setback in the story would be pretty pointless extra information.

 

Frontage could be used I believe.

 

I think that would be a firebreak.