Trees Mixing Well With Streets In Northwest Arkansas

Northwest Arkansas Cities Adding Trees To Street Projects...

STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Motorists drive Friday along Don Tyson Parkway in Springdale. Cities across Northwest Arkansas have been including landscaping as a part of road improvement.
STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Motorists drive Friday along Don Tyson Parkway in Springdale. Cities across Northwest Arkansas have been including landscaping as a part of road improvement.

Benefits ranging from traffic control to cooling air are among the reasons some street projects are including trees along right of way, officials said.

"Pedestrians feel safer with trees," said Troy Galloway, Bentonville's director of community and economic development. "It encourages them to walk more."

At A Glance (w/logo)

Tree Benefits

• Reduced traffic speeds

• Creates a safer walking environment

• Separates vehicles from pedestrians, buildings

• Increased security

• Improved business

• Less drainage infrastructure

• Protection from sun, heat and rain

• Reduced harm from tailpipe emissions

• Quicker transformation of pollutants to natural gasses

• Lower urban air temperature

• Lower ozone

• Makes a more pleasing environment

• Softens and screens street features

• Reduces stress

• Adds value to adjacent property

• Longer pavement life

• Provides connection to nature in urban setting

Source: Walkable And Livable Communities Institute

Trees can create many benefits, according to Urban Street Trees, a study by Dan Burden. Burden, executive director of Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, led a workshop in October 2011 on revitalizing downtown Springdale.

The top benefit of tree planting along streets is reducing traffic speeds, according to the study. The trees create the appearance of a narrower street and cause motorists to slow. Other benefits include lowering temperature, noise and pollution.

Most widened streets in Fayetteville will have trees in a median, said Jeremy Pate, development services director. Streets planned with trees in a median include Van Ashe Drive, Rupple Road and Garland Avenue. Crossover Road, which also is Arkansas 265, will not have trees because it's a state project built in partnership with the city.

Rogers doesn't plant trees in medians, said Lance Jobe, city project engineer. Mayor Greg Hines has asked for trees to be added to improvements on Walnut Street between Eighth Street and Dixieland Road, Jobe said. The trees will be placed about every 50 feet outside of the sidewalks.

Bentonville plans focused on planting trees along corridors in volunteer efforts during Make A Difference Day, Galloway said. Up to 1,000 trees were planted along Southwest I Street, East Central Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street.

Developers are also required to plant trees to build the canopy near streets.

"We've focused more on trees since shrubs weren't surviving that well," Galloway said. "We switched to a lifetime guarantee since under the old rules, (developers) would maintain them for five years then stop, or remove them."

Springdale officials plan to add trees to the east side of Don Tyson Parkway, said Mayor Doug Sprouse. The original project had saplings along the parkway west of Thompson Street, and a few on the east side, he said.

A grant from Tree City USA paid for the trees on the west side, Sprouse said, with individuals paying for the trees planted on the east. The Tyson family paid for replacing the trees on the west side with larger ones, he said.

The parkway's east side will be planted with larger trees after the Springdale Rotary Club donated $10,000 and the Tyson family $5,000. The city will kick in $28,474 remaining from $300,000 earmarked for two projects in Rotary Park, he said.

The proposal calls for planting 138 sugar maples 2 inches in diameter. At $285 each, the cost is $43,164.

"Everyone liked the look of the bigger trees all matching," Sprouse said. "This will allow the folks on the east side the same trees."

Jonathan Perrodin, a business owner and Springdale resident, said he's concerned about the care the trees get.

"A lot of the older trees were dead or not looking good," Perrodin said. "I want to make sure the new trees will be watered and will survive."

The older trees were planted by volunteers soon after the parkway opened, Sprouse said. Rough winters in recent years, including an ice storm, cut the survival rate, he said.

"We're having larger trees planted by professionals," Sprouse said. "Volunteer plantings may have been a mistake, although we appreciated their help. Professionals know how to plant trees to hold water better."

All the surviving trees will be moved to the city's tree farm on McCullough Street, Sprouse said. Trees from the farm can be used in parks or other locations, he said.

Correct planting, with irrigation, is essential to the survival of transplanted trees, Pate said. Trees planted several years ago in sidewalks along College Avenue near Dickson Street were helped with tree wells. The wells are filled with a mixture of soil and organic material that will help the tree grow, even under concrete, he said.

Correct planting and larger trees will make a big difference, said Jeff Hunter, owner of Professional Landscaping in Springdale. The company planted the new trees on the parkway.

"You have to pick trees specific to the location and the purpose," Hunter said. "The trees have to handle the pollution from cars on the streets; be resistant to disease or insects; and be strong enough to handle the weather."

Red maples were popular recently, but the trunks must be wrapped when small or they will sunburn, Hunter said.

The city urban forester selected the trees to be planted in Fayetteville, Pate said. Elm trees were selected for Garland Avenue to match those planted by the University of Arkansas.

Trees around Dickson Street, an entertainment area, are occasionally hit by drivers, Pate said.

"Usually, the driver has been drinking," Pate said. "I'd rather they hit a tree instead of another car or a pedestrian. Usually police find them, and they have to pay for a new tree."

Fayetteville has replacement trees, Pate said. The Springdale tree farm can supply replacements for any tree that dies or is hit by a car, Sprouse said.

"We had one tree hit," Sprouse said. "We were able to push the tree back upright and it looks like it will be OK."

Some trees planted when Wagon Wheel Road in Springdale was opened had to be replaced because of visibility problems, said Patsy Christie, city planner.

Trees and shrubs on Wagon Wheel were planted between the curb and the sidewalk, said Alan Pugh, city engineer. All other trees planted during construction projects have been placed outside of the sidewalks or in medians, Christie said.

NW News on 03/29/2014

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