NO Tree Removal On Mineral Point Road for Widening Sidewalks Until Additional Public Meeting

There has been a fair amount of discussion this past week about tree removals along Mineral Point Road due to the Bus Rapid Transit project (BRT). I am paying close attention to this project because I was asked to be one of the sponsors of Legistar # 77167 back in March.

Legistar # 77167: Determining a Public Purpose and Necessity and adopting Transportation Project Plat Numbers 12777-3 - 4.01 through 12777-3 - 4.11, for the required acquisitions per the Plats of Lands and Interests Required for the East-West Bus Rapid Transit - Mineral Point Road Segment project. Located along Mineral Point Road between the W Beltline Hwy on the west and S Whitney Way on the east. (9th, 11th and 19th AD’s)
Attachments: Transportation Proj Plat Numbers 12777-3-4.01 thru 4.11.pdf

The redesign of Mineral Point Road shifts the bus lane from the right side to the left side, improving operations for BRT. To provide a complete corridor, the plan included widening the sidewalk on the north side which would be an adequate bicycle facility. The strategy was to minimize tree impacts by expanding the sidewalk as much as possible on the north side of the existing sidewalk and weaving around the existing trees. For example, the block between Whitney Way and Rosa Road will use the space occupied by one of the travel lanes in order to minimize significant tree loss along Garner Park.

However, after receiving several emails from residents last week about 66 trees on Mineral Point Road marked with yellow dots for removal, I went back and reviewed the recordings from the April 25, 2023 Mineral Point Road Widened Sidewalk public meeting and the May 3, 2023 Board of Public Works meeting. I could not find any indication that there would be such a significant number as 66 trees marked for removal. In fact, there are numerous times during these meetings when committee members and the general public were told that only a handful of trees would need to be cut down.

[video:https://youtu.be/dTJWn23EEls title:"Excerpt of Public Information Meeting - Bus Rapid Transit/Mineral Point Sidewalk Widening 4/25/23" width:300 align:right]For example, on April 25, 2023 at the public meeting a participant asked, "How many trees will be removed? Do you know?" Mike Cechvala, Capital Projects Manager replied that, "there are some places where we can't go onto the private side of the sidewalk, and so the only option is to remove some trees. There are also some trees that just aren't going to survive the construction, and for a number of other reasons. There are a handful of trees that will need to come down. I don't have that number. The other thing that we're trying to do though, is replace any trees that we take down with the overall project. It may not be in the same place and we know that replacing a mature tree with a new small tree is not exactly a one for one replacement, but we are trying to do that."   (source)
 

[video:https://youtu.be/yBvqf90FPSw title:"Excerpt of the City of Madison's Board of Public Works Meeting – May 3, 2023" width:300 align:right]

At the Board of Public Works meeting on May 3, 2023, Tom Lynch, Director of Transportation said, "What we're proposing is we're proposing to widen the sidewalk on the north side of Mineral Point Road to accommodate bikes. This will provide a protected facility which we think is warranted. In fact, just last year, a cyclist was killed on Mineral Point Road. This is an example of a typical section of what we're trying to do. Our existing sidewalk is generally about five feet, five to six feet. What we would like to have, it is eight to ten feet, depending on the location. This provides a little bit wider sidewalk and it allows us to preserve the terrace. We could provide this widened sidewalk if we put the sidewalk directly adjacent to the street. But then we end up taking out trees and we don't want to do that."  (source)

Upon further review city staff have determined that NO trees will be cut down on Mineral Point for the sake of BRT until additional public meetings are scheduled to discuss the revised plan with the community. City staff agree that removing 66 trees signifies more trees being removed than was implied during the planning process. Staff will work to find a way to significantly reduce the need to remove mature tree. This message was reinforced by Director Lynch at a neighborhood gathering at the South Kenosha Greenway on September 21, 2023.   [video:https://youtu.be/vFXjH5keXAs title:"Update by Tom Lynch about tree removal on Mineral Point Road for BRT Widened Sidewalk (9/21/23)" align:center]