PennDOT could remove 90% of trees along part of Atherton St. How to provide input on the plan
Nearly 60 trees along Atherton Street — about 90% of the street trees along a 1.2-mile stretch — could be removed as part of an upcoming roadwork project by PennDOT, a move that State College Borough’s tree commission has flagged as antithetical to the community’s values.
State College — which has boasted a “Tree City, USA” designation for 37 years — could see the trees removed as part of the state’s $17 million South Atherton Street Project, which includes roadway improvements and the relocation of several utility lines. That work starts in the spring, between Curtin Road and Westerly Parkway.
The tree commission also worries those 56 trees could be just the beginning. The second phase of the roadwork plan, beyond Westerly, could see even more trees removed along a different stretch, they said.
“We looked at where those 60 trees would be taken from,” tree commission vice chair Elaine Schuckers said during a council meeting last month. “Please take a drive or take a walk, and think about 60 trees vanishing from that area. ... A quick estimate of the value of those trees is $200,000.”
Due to that potential removal, the tree commission has helped organize a public hearing for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Municipal Building to hear from the community. No action will be taken at the hybrid meeting, but borough spokesperson Doug Shontz said officials will take the community input seriously. PennDOT’s design project manager will also be on-hand.
Because it is a PennDOT project, PennDOT will have the ultimate say and not borough council. But both the borough and PennDOT say they still hope to work together.
“We really want to hear from the community and receive community input on those trees,” Shontz added. “We’re going to work with our public works department, our arborist and PennDOT to do whatever we can, in terms of what is wanted from the public.”
According to a memo from the tree commission to borough council obtained by the CDT, the commission operated under the assumption a year ago that fewer than 20 trees would be removed. In an email Wednesday, a PennDOT spokesperson countered by telling the CDT that number changed as a direct result of some early borough missteps, such as not taking into consideration storm sewer installation and proposing a curb detail that doesn’t meet PennDOT’s design criteria.
For many of the trees, and for many reasons, PennDOT says it’s not feasible to keep them between the curb and sidewalk. The tree commission disagrees — including commission member Bill Elmendorf, who’s also a professor of community forestry at Penn State.
“Some of the trees should be removed because of their poor condition,” Elmendorf said. “We would expect that some of the trees should be removed to accommodate the construction project; we’re not against the construction project. Removing all the trees is unacceptable.
“And, in my opinion, there’s engineering and tree-care techniques that can be used to preserve some of the trees, and it seems they haven’t been considered.”
Commission members said the tree removal goes beyond simply making a major entryway into the borough look bare. Besides residents’ quality of life and the borough’s reputation as a “Tree City, USA,” a mature urban tree can remove around 100 gallons of stormwater daily through evapotransporation, Elmendorf confirmed, something even the Environmental Protection Agency touts.
PennDOT has shown a willingness to replace the trees. But Elmendorf noted some of the trees to be removed are more than 60 years old and 60 feet tall. They would be replaced with smaller, planted trees.
Those interested in sharing input with the borough and PennDOT can either join online via Zoom or attend in-person 7 p.m. Thursday at the Municipal Building’s council chamber.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 5:10 PM.
