Tree replacement on Park Lane in Kirkland begins with tree removal

Kirklands consulting arborist Scott Baker prepares a rope for a tree test he conducted in May 2014. Kirklands contractor, Marshbank Construction, will be removing all but nine of Park Lanes existing trees. Most of the ones that will remain are at the streets Main Street and Lake Street gateways.

image credit: Christian Knight/City of Kirkland

During the past 12 months, the Park Lane project team has been working with residents and business owners to redesign Park Lane into a greener, more walkable and vibrant corridor. Park Lanes new plaza-style street will feature a one-level surface of brick pavers and a new stormwater system that will better protect Lake Washington from the pollutants that drain to it every time it rains.

Starting Jan. 5, Kirklands contractor, Marshbank Construction, will begin working on that new vision. This will involve some dramatic changes, such as closing the street to automobile traffic and progressively removing all of the existing sidewalk and pavement.

One of the most visible changes will be to Park Lanes treescape. The contractor will be removing all but nine of Park Lanes existing trees.

Some of them are diseased, said Project Engineer Frank Reinart. Most of them are old and some of them are in the way of new utilities. But the underlying reason we are replacing the trees is to make Park Lane more walkable and accessible for pedestrians of all abilities. The current conditions of the trees make it hard for people, in groups or with assistance, to walk the length of Park Lane.

Reinart points to the maple in front of Cactus Restaurant. That trees base and root mass protrude above the sidewalks surface, reducing to a couple feet the walkable space between the base of the tree and the street on one side, and Cactus fenced dining area on the other side.

A wheelchair cant fit through that space, he said. A person walking with a child might be forced to step into the street. And this is only one such example on Park Lane.

Pedestrian access is the primary reason for removing many of the trees. But other reasons exist. The maples in front of Zeeks Pizza and Cactus, for example, are aging. The maple on the northwest corner of Main Street and Park Lane conflicts directly with the projects replacement water main. Ten more treesmost of them mapleswould not survive the root damage they would sustain while crews build the streets new underground utilities and its walking surface.

Altogether, the project will remove 27 trees, including an ailing oak removed earlier this year. It will plant 35 new trees with five different species be planted. Those species include the more familiar Red Maples and Red Oaks, as well as the tall and slender Musashinos and the broader Redspire Pears and Pink Flair Cherries.

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Tree replacement on Park Lane in Kirkland begins with tree removal