Summary
The Silver Maples that arch over our roads have been an identifying characteristic of our neighborhood for many decades. Unfortunately, many of them are being cut down due to their age, and in the future many may be cut down or damaged to make way for new, sidewalks.
"Street trees" are trees that line a street. In our neighborhood they are within approximately 10 feet of the street. There are two reasons that many of the street trees in our neighborhood are being cut down.
- First, the trees lining the streets in our neighborhood are Silver Maples, which have a lifespan of about 100 years. As the trees reach the ends of their lives and begin to decay, the Town has been removing them for our safety. We've lost many of the trees to age, and the pace seems to be accelerating in recent years.
- Second, the Bethlehem Highway Department has plans to replace existing sidewalks on Euclid and Burhans. To install the new sidewalks, the Town may remove all of the street trees where they're installed on Euclid. Even if the trees are not cut down prior to building new sidewalks, they will be damaged because installing sidewalks would require cutting through their roots. Based on an assessment of a NYS DEC urban forestry expert, installing sidewalks next to street trees will likely kill the trees within 2 to 5 years for this reason.
Regardless of decisions made about our sidewalks, we want to start a neighborhood conversation about keeping our streets looking beautiful with trees.
Neighborhood street tree committee
We are a group of residents working to maintain tree-lined streets in our neighborhood. Our members include:
- Maria Bedo-Calhoun
- Dave Hart
- Madeline Hehir
- Julia Richards
- Shaina Runyon
- Francis Sheehan
- Christine Simeone
- Pamela Skripak
- Jeremy Snyder
- Frank Strickler
Our current and planned actions include:
- Interfacing with town officials about sidewalks and street trees in our neighborhood.
- Gathering input from neighborhood residents about their opinions about sidewalks and street trees.
- Identifying homeowners interested in having street trees planted in their yard.
- Encouraging the Town to restart their former street tree planting program.
- Investigating a neighborhood volunteer effort to plant young trees.
Street tree safety
If you are concerned about the safety of a street tree, please contact the Bethlehem Highway Deparment. They will send out a professional arborist to assess the tree. If they determine that there is a safety risk, then the town will remove a limb/branch or the whole tree as needed. The town will offer to plant a replacement street tree.
Actions you can take
Provide input on sidewalks and street trees
Please let us know your thoughts in the survey below. We will compile the results and provide them to town officials.
Replacing street trees
Town Supervisor David VanLuven has said that whenever the Town cuts down a street tree due to age or for a sidewalk, then the Town will plant a replacement tree. According to Supervisor VanLuven:
These replacement trees will ideally be native species that are better suited to the site [than Silver Maples]. If a landowner doesn't want their tree replaced, then I'm hoping that we can replant it on an immediate neighbor's property or elsewhere in the neighborhood.
To support the Town's commitment to replace the street trees that it cuts, we are working to identify homeowners who are willing to host new street trees on their yard.
Planting new street trees
In anticipation of their being more homeowners willing to host a street tree than there will be trees available under this one-for-one replacement policy, we are taking two additional steps:
- The Town previously had a street tree planting program, under which the Town would plant the tree and split the cost with the homeowner. This resulted in a lower cost to the homeowner than hiring a commercial nursery. Please join us in encouraging the Town to restart this program.
- In case the Town does not restart this program, we are investigating a volunteer program to purchase and plant young tree whips in the neighborhood. A whip is a young tree, typically less than a few years old, that consists of a single slender stem with a small root ball. They are inexpensive and easy to plant, but require fencing to protect them from wildlife while still young.
Sidewalk and street tree survey
Survey background information
Due to the degraded condition, the Town plans to replace the current blacktop sidewalks on Euclid Ave with new concrete sidewalks that are 5' wide, 1' wider than the current sidewalks. This change would make the new sidewalks ADA compliant and compatible with existing town snow plowing equipment. The Town intends to extend the existing sidewalk from where it terminates at Capitol to Yorkshire, but is willing to leave that stretch as it is if that is the neighborhood's preference.
Unfortunately, because the street trees on Euclid were planted in the easement (generally the land from the center of the street to the house side of the current sidewalks) and due to the way that modern sidewalks are constructed, there is no ideal solution for installing new sidewalks without harming the street trees. Initially, the Town's plan was to cut down all of the street trees on one side of Euclid Ave. and install new sidewalks in 2025, and then do the same on the opposite side the following year. After many residents spoke out, the Town delayed their plans until 2026.
Currently, a small group of neighborhood residents is working with the Town to understand the options for sidewalks and how those plans impact the neighborhood's trees. This group of neighbors will also seek out the opinions of other residents and convey them to Town officials.
The existing sidewalks on Burhans will also be replaced, but they are not as degraded, so that work will happen after the sidewalks on Euclid are finished. The Town also plans to upgrade the underground storm drainage pipes on Burhans prior to work on those sidewalks. The street trees on Burhans were planted outside of the easement, so the trees will not be affected by this construction.
There are no plans to replace the sidewalk on Capitol at this time. There are no plans to install new sidewalks on Salisbury because the Town has the goal of repairing existing sidewalks throughout Bethlehem before new ones are installed.
Below, we provide information to consider as you answer the questions. One consideration we'd like to highlight is that even if the street trees are left standing for now, installing a new sidewalk is likely to kill the trees within 2 to 5 years (according to an assessment of a New York DEC urban forestry expert) due to cutting through the tree roots. The Town plans to contract with an arborist to assess which, if any, trees are likely to survive this construction process.
Addresses are required when submitting the survey:
- because the responses of our neighbors who currently have sidewalks in front of their house on Euclid will be presented separately.
- so appropriate locations for replacement street trees can be identified.
Considerations regarding WHERE new sidewalks should be installed on Euclid Ave.
The first question in the survey is where sidewalks should be replaced. When you answer this question, please consider the following:
- As discussed below, installing a new sidewalk on either side of the street will likely cause harm to existing street trees or will require cutting them down entirely. For any tree that is removed, the Town will offer a replacement street tree to the homeowner or, if they do not want it, a neighbor.
- If only one side has a new sidewalk, it would be on the northeast side of the street (with even house numbers) because the water and gas mains run under the opposite side of the street.
- If one or both existing sidewalks are removed, they would be replaced with grass.
- If both sidewalks are removed, this may limit the movement of current or future residents with mobility issues, if they feel uncomfortable traveling in the street.
Considerations regarding HOW new sidewalks should be installed on Euclid Ave.
The second question in the survey is if one or both sides of Euclid get new replacement sidewalks, how should a new sidewalk be constructed? When you answer this question, please consider the following:
- Regarding options 1 and 2 in the survey, construction of concrete sidewalks requires digging down 18" below the surface. Installation of a sidewalk is likely to kill adjacent street trees within 2 to 5 years by cutting through their roots, based on the assessment of a NYS DEC urban forestry expert. The Town plans to contract with an arborist to assess which trees, if any, are likely to survive this construction process. The Town is also investigating the use of a rubber-based sidewalk material which would not require as deep of a base layer.
- Regarding option 1 in the survey, the Town cautions that the grass next to a 44" wide sidewalk may be damaged when the Town plows the sidewalks in the winter. The narrowest plowing that the Town can do is 55" wide, which is the narrowest width the plow can be contracted to. The amount of damage to grass in the winter is expected to be similar to what occurs with the existing sidewalks.
- Regarding option 3 in the survey, if a street tree is cut down, then the homeowner will be offered a new street tree planted by the Town at no cost adjacent to the easement. See the street trees on Burhans for an example of what this would look like. Homeowners would be able to select the species of tree they want from several options offered by the Town.
Benefits of street trees
Street trees provide many benefits because they:
- make our neighborhood more beautiful.
- calm traffic because they make drivers perceive that they should drive more slowly.
- can increase property values
- keep the neighborhood cooler in the summer by providing shade and warmer in the winter by creating a wind break.
- reduce storm runoff.
- sequester carbon, which helps to mitigate climate change.
- provide wildlife habitats.
- provide fertilizer for lawns when the leaves are mulched with a lawn mower in the fall.
- improve air quality.
Contact
If you have any questions, email Madeline Hehir at mmhehir@gmail.com.