[CANUFNET] how Municipalities work around trees

[Trevor Thistle]

Hi Everyone,

I am an urban Forester for the City of Edmonton. I work mainly with The
City's Neighborhood Renewal Program

In short, Neighborhood Renewal involves the complete removal and
replacement of curbs, sidewalks, streets, streetlights as well as some
buried utilities.

In addition to the infrastructure replacement work, we also construct new
infrastructure or modify replaced infrastructure to enhance the cycling and
pedestrian friendliness of our city.

This program started in about 2008-09 in some of Edmonton's oldest
neighborhoods with the largest trees. Since then we have renewed about 60
of our 375 neighborhoods. Needless to say there has been no shortage of
lifted sidewalks, and cubs that have been displaced or enveloped by roots.

In the Neighborhood Renewal Program we deal with grey and green
infrastructure conflicts in many ways, such as:

   - Identifying potential conflicts in the design phase, and where
   possible designing out these conflicts.
   - Abandoning plans where the tree impacts outweigh the value of the
   proposed infrastructure. FYI, In Edmonton, we collect asset value for trees
   that are removed for construction purposes.
   - Realigning or lifting sidewalks to get around or over conflicting
   roots.
   - Leaving included concrete with the trees instead of removing it.
   - Extensive air excavation for landscaping and exploratory purposes.
   - Selective root pruning or shaving when there are no other practical
   alternatives.
   - Constructing thinner but reinforced curbs and sidewalks where space is
   limited, and where we expect future root conflicts.
   - Removing conflicting trees if they are already in decline or in
   conflict with buried or overhead utilities.

Because of the large scale of these projects, and the large numbers of
trees,  it is not possible to manage the trees on an individual basis and
complete these projects at a reasonable cost, within reasonable timelines.
Therefore, we have developed Tree Protection Plans (TPP) for each project
that the project team (city employees and contractors) must adhere to. An
urban forester is on call to assist where exceptions to the TPP must be
made in order to move the project forward. There are no exceptions without
the approval of an Urban Forester.

Urban foresters working on these projects monitor the construction work and
tree impacts quite intensively, and provide constant feedback to the
project managers in order to influence the projects with the conservation
of our living assets in mind.  The Urban Foresters keep records of the
trees that have been visibly impacted and place them on a post construction
tree care (water and fertilizer) list for up to 5 years after the
completion of construction. We also water large trees for a season prior to
construction.

So, now to get to the purpose of this email, which I will sum up in the
following points:

   - How do other Canadian municipalities manage green and grey
   infrastructure conflicts?
   - Do other municipalities have programs similar to Edmonton's
   Neighborhood Renewal program?
   - Does anyone have experience with replacing damaged sidewalks with root
   bridges?  I would like to see how the cost compares to conventional
   sidewalk replacement. I would also like to get information about
   manufacturers of these products.
   - Do other municipalities have pre and post construction tree care
   programs or practices?
   - When do other municipalities make the decision to cut / shave roots,
   or remove trees due to green / grey infrastructure conflicts?
   - Do urban forestry professionals in other municipalities have an
   opportunity to review and provide feedback on construction designs?
   - Do other municipalities use air excavation around trees to reduce the
   need for mechanical excavation?
   - Do other municipalities use air excavation to explore proposed
   excavations near trees for root conflicts?
   - Are there any other creative solutions to grey/green
   infrastructure conflicts that anyone would like to share?
   - And just as importantly, can the City of Edmonton offer any advice to
   Urban foresters in other municipalities on this subject?


I look forward to the conversations that this email will spur!


*Trevor Thistle Bsc. Forestry*
*Urban Forester **| **PR-4760AM | **Tree Risk Assessment Qualified*

Parks and Roads Services

CITY OPERATIONS |  PARKS AND ROADS SERVICES

Cell 780-913-5893

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