Most neighbors living in the vicinity of 40th St. have known about the changes coming to a large stretch of that thoroughfare for some time now. We wrote about those changes back in March and Eric touched on it in his article about the Green Lake Area Paving and Safety Project (of which the 40th St. work is a part). In addition to the repaving of 40th, this project includes: addition of curb ramps and painted crosswalks in select locations; improved pedestrian lighting and bus stops; sidewalk repair; and, as we all know by now, bike lanes at the expense of parking on the south side of the street from Stone Way to Latona. Lost amid all the discussion about the bike lanes was any mention of the impact of the sidewalk repairs.
Recently, folks have noticed signs going up on trees along 40th indicating that some of them may be removed. The trees are not being removed to make room for bike lanes, it seems. Rather, the repair work being contemplated for the sidewalks may necessitate taking the trees down. Personally, I believe our many trees are a real hallmark of Northwest cities that sets us apart from cities elsewhere in the country, and we’re losing more of them every year to development. But they clearly do quite a job on our sidewalks. The root systems heave the pavement up so high in some spots that it can be pretty difficult to hurdle over it, especially if it’s dark out.
The notices SDOT has put up imply that they may or may not have to remove the trees for the sidewalk repairs. A number of readers have contacted us to say that concerned neighbors need to act now to try to nudge SDOT in the direction of tree preservation as much as possible rather than tree removal.
Kimberly writes:
You might already be aware of this, as it’s being discussed on the community Facebook page and Nextdoor, but 17 trees are slated for possible removal between Wallingford and Latona along N. 40th. I’m attaching a couple of pictures that I took . This is apparently due to sidewalk buckling and not because of the proposed bike lanes. Given that not all the trees are marked, that seems accurate to me.
I personally think it would be a good idea for folks that care to go ahead and email their support for tree preservation along that route to the city arborist. Losing those 17 oaks would really change that street, not to mention the shade, carbon sequestering, and beauty that they provide for the neighborhood. The sidewalk needs fixing, but I feel like we don’t have to make that a zero sum game.
To make your voice heard, contact the city arborists at:
[email protected] or (206) 684-TREE
The trees are precious. Why can’t the sidewalk be redesigned to accommodate the treasured trees? The pathway could be slightly elevated, by ramping up and down at each corner. I’m certain there are many other solutions. The city needs to think outside the box!
How about partially tearing down the house next to it and re-route the sidewalk over that house?
The sidewalk in front of my house is narrower and around the tree. The city recommended that when we repaved it.
There are tree-damaged sidewalks all over Wallingford. If we want to have all these trees, we should give them more room. However, what are we willing to sacrifice? Roads? Sidewalks? Parking space? Yards? Houses? That’s why I’ve been saying the best idea is to tear down most single-family houses and concentrate the population into condos. That way we can have a forest in Wallingford.
you are a true visionary, lol
Well, Comrade TJ, it’s not like you care but I suspect the owner of the house might object to your plan. We have a concept in our country called “property rights.”
There is also a concept called “eminent domain”. I thought we are having this discussion is because we all love trees and trees benefit everybody?
Of all the trade offs possible, only the private house isn’t for the public good.
I love that tree-lined corridor, but the sidewalks are trashed. I’d be really sad to see them go, but I get it from an accessibility and maintenance point of view. As is, the sidewalks are precarious, especially for those who have disabilities. I would suggest we consider tree removal and replacement with smaller/narrow trees with smaller root systems, if possible. City standard is a 5-ft planting strip, and I don’t think there’s the space for that, so shrubs might be an alternative. Any non-standard sidewalks built to save the trees can result in sidewalks that continue the difficulties for those with disabilities. Raised sidewalks create edges where wheels can catch and send someone tumbling. There would be challenges with each resident rebuilding their paths and stairs to the newly elevated sidewalk. And buried roots could kill the trees anyway. And, narrowed paths can be difficult to navigate. There isn’t enough room to put the sidewalk along the other side because it would narrow the traffic and bike lanes. It’s an interesting problem to try to solve.
In many cities throughout the world, there are busy streets lined with large trees and sidewalks that are accessible to all. How do they do it?
All I’m suggesting is that the city consider something other than trash and burn to achieve a goal that could be safe, ecological and beautiful (gasp!).
Widen the sidewalk and then you can do it. You have to either narrow the streets or pull back the houses.
The right way to do it is to have 6-12 feet wide zone for trees per side, and another 6-12 feet wide zone for pedestrians per side, if you go with with Seattle City guidance for what 40th is designated to be. To do that you have to tear down the first house on the block.
The current work-around of using asphalt to make the root mound a smooth transition between the sections of concrete is working though needs to be applied in more places. Granted at some point the mounds can become unacceptably high, but for now you have something like in the worst cases a 10 foot length of sidewalk rising to a peak of a few inches in the middle. There are sections of 40th with a steeper slope than that due to the terrain.
I’ve seen use of some type of flexible asphalt around root bases on sidewalks on The Ave and elsewhere. I don’t know if they add some sort of rubber compound or what. I don’t see why that can’t be done on 40th.
Hello