Trees for T.O. Streets please.

[js97]

I'm sure this has been pointed out, but it seems we plant trees on our sidewalks in concrete death tombs as per design. My cynical side thinks it's a plot to ensure continuous makework jobs. It doesn't take an arborist to figure out that trees, especially ones that are expected to grow to several stories tall, would require adequate room for their roots to grow.

unfortunate indeed!

 

[WooWah]

I've often wondered if they prefer keeping trees in coffins so the roots don't hit pipes and cause more problems. I'm all for free range trees though

 

[DSC]

The City now has tree planting Guidelines at http://www.toronto.ca/trees/tree_details_drawings.htm they are part of the City Streetscaping Manual. (Which is at http://www.toronto.ca/planning/urbdesign/streetscape/index.htm ) Of course, there are still many trees in tree coffins but as new buildings go up they are generally forced to install trenches, often with irrigation. In fact, today I noticed that the contractors are installing a trench in front of the new Streetcar building on north side of King Street East at St Lawrence Street - there used to be 4-5 old sick trees there, new ones will soon be planted in the new trench. Of course there are still thousands of trees in coffins and there probably always wil be because many of the sidewalks are filled with pipes, wire and conduits.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Yet we have trees that continue to grow in places that they shouldn't. Case in point:

From this link:

Century-old Roncesvalles tree up for heritage designation

In less than two minutes, TV producer and environmental steward Karyn Klaire Koski captures on film the essence of a majestic silver maple, a fixture on Roncesvalles Avenue for close to a century.

The video short serves as a nomination to the Ontario Heritage Tree Program.

"I'm an environment advocate. I believe in trees - I believe trees are the lungs of our neighbourhood," said resident Klaire Koski when asked why she thought it was important to recognize the stately tree with official heritage status. "This tree has survived all these decades in a commercial area."

It's the first-ever video nomination the tree program has received, confirmed spokesperson Azadeh Chobak.

"We're very excited to see this. We think it's great," said Chobak. "It has triggered ideas for us."

The video will be submitted along with an evaluation by a technical expert to a Trees Ontario committee, which will review the silver maple's historical and cultural significance, she explained. It's a format the Ontario Tree Program would "love" to see more of Chobak added.

Klaire Koski put a call out to community members for any information about the tree through a Roncesvalles Renewed blog this past summer. In the fall, she sought the help of high school students in the Toronto District School Board Grade 11 Internship Program and those looking to gain their volunteer hours.

Situated on the east side of Roncesvalles Avenue, just south of St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic Church, the silver maple stands 11 metres high - approximately the height of a four-storey building. Its circumference is 320 centimetres. During the recent renovation and construction on Roncesvalles Avenue, the City of Toronto and the community joined forces to safeguard the tree. As part of the sidewalk reconstruction, flexible sidewalk tile was installed instead of conventional pavers to protect the roots and ensure better circulation of air and water.

The tree is believed to be the oldest city tree in a commercial area, Klaire Koski said. As the video points out, it has witnessed "decades of growth, decline, celebrations, seasons and sorrows," such as the funeral of Pope John Paul the Second. It has also been at the centre of the largest Polish festival in North America, hosted by the Roncesvalles community.

The nomination and eventual heritage designation would serve as a legacy, said Klaire Koski.

"It would help Roncesvalles establish a reputation for being an eco-aware community that celebrates environmental stewardship," she said.

Same location.

 

[lead82]

DSC you nailed the big problem. Toronto has 3 main issues that are causing urban street trees to die. The first is the lack of space due to inadequate sidewalk space allocated to trees. Secondly, our narrow roads and sidewalks are dug up constantly to upgrade sewers, pipes, telephone, cable and other utilitily pipes/cables. It doesn't have much to do with salt, as all our roads get salted, yet the quiet neighbourhoods have glorious trees, but main arteries like Yonge, Bloor, Queen get tiny stick trees. Thirdly, the biggest problem is development. New projects require new utilities to be installed. This causes the road/sidewalk to be dug-up and sometimes trees become the causualty of this.

The narrow ROW for roads and sidewalks and the tremendous growth we have experienced means that there is no way to fit 4 lane roads, wide sidewalks, bike lanes and leave ample room for mature trees along the major arterials in this city. I'm hoping that the newly renovated Bloor St. trees can survive and grow tall as they have been planted in good planters.

Our planters are slowly improving. I would love to see our grand boulevard University Avenue or Yonge Street be renovated to put in some nice planters and upgraded sidewalks. Toronto uses too much grey in street furniture. I much prefer the look of black urban furniture rather than our depressing grey stuff.

I am very much looking forward to the upgrade of Queen's Quay West. In 2014 it should be lined with two rows of trees and a new completed Martin Goodman trail. It may become our signature street.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Re: lead82's first paragraph above, I noticed that one - possibly two - "tree protection zones" are now gone on Charles Street in front of X2. I don't know what happened to them, the trees and hoarding are just gone. Truth be told they were kind of sad looking trees (IMO), the area along Charles St. in front of X2 would benefit from new trees that are properly planted as per the new city tree planting code once the project is complete.

 

[MetroMan]

I think Bloor was a great proof of concept and we will probably see it repeated elsewhere. I believe it'll start with streets with wide sidewalks first. University Avenue would be a good next step. Front St can also follow the Bloor model.

Where I'd really want this is Queen St W, and College St, which have very little tree canopy but are heavy pedestrian streets. King St W has a growing canopy and the trees there (from Spadina to Bathurst at least) seem to have healthy trees that have been growing for years now and have the potential of becoming permanent mature trees. What they're doing on King should be repeated on College and Queen W.

 

[CanadianNational]

I'd like to see the city get bold about this.

A number of the main walking streets downtown would be improved by being narrowed by one full traffic lane on each side. Half the width of each reclaimed lane could be allotted to tree space, and half to a bike lane. It would do away with those horrid root coffins, and allow mature, substantial trees to flourish. To be realistic, this would require a heady jump in transit expansion. Which means it does not seem too realistic, right now. Nonetheless...

North to South, Yonge, Church, Bathurst and Dufferin would be impressive contenders. Church allows curbside parking, so narrowing it would be practically the easiest and most easily understood.
Yonge would probably be the trickiest, because of the subway immediately beneath it. It has also never been a treed street. I think if it were tree lined,though, people would wonder how they did without it so long. It would help turn the street from a tight chute for traffic into a civic asset.
Bathurst has some really stark stretches to it, as does Dufferin. Some heavy planting would improve those a lot.

Church Street, around the turn to the 20th Century:

University used to be lined with mature chestnut trees. I say bring 'em back.

East to West, Queen would be the best contender. Dundas, too. It gets barren both east and west of the immediate core and could use some real beautifying. It's a major surface transit thoroughfare, a walkable neighbourly street and an important link, all in one. Also, The Danforth. I think the suggestion of treeing Front is a good one, too.

Something like this would mark a sharp, though only partial, diverging from the auto-heavy planning setup we're still dealing with. Out of all the main streets in the downtown, it would not affect too many. In that way, it would still be largely symbolic. But a potent symbol - even mentioning it would cause screams of protest. It would definitely push the current shape of compromise between people and the automobile towards the 'people' end. But it would be bold.

People think "oh, we can't do that". But yes, we could if we wanted to. We can do whatever we like.
Personally, I'd like to see something impressive and beautiful, instead of the same old middling same old.

I'd like to see Toronto have the Moxie to try something like this. Even if it was, say, just downtown Yonge. Especially under the nose of this crude mayoralty. That would be a real accomplishment.

 

[Torontovibe]

I noticed a lot of new trees are going to be planted in new planters on the east side of Bay Street, south of Wellesley. There is lots of sidewalk construction going on.

 

[Paleo]

I'd like to see the city get bold about this.

A number of the main walking streets downtown would be improved by being narrowed by one full traffic lane on each side. Half the width of each reclaimed lane could be allotted to tree space, and half to a bike lane. It would do away with those horrid root coffins, and allow mature, substantial trees to flourish. To be realistic, this would require a heady jump in transit expansion. Which means it does not seem too realistic, right now. Nonetheless...

North to South, Yonge, Church, Bathurst and Dufferin would be impressive contenders. Church allows curbside parking, so narrowing it would be practically the easiest and most easily understood.
Yonge would probably be the trickiest, because of the subway immediately beneath it. It has also never been a treed street. I think if it were tree lined,though, people would wonder how they did without it so long. It would help turn the street from a tight chute for traffic into a civic asset.
Bathurst has some really stark stretches to it, as does Dufferin. Some heavy planting would improve those a lot.

East to West, Queen would be the best contender. Dundas, too. It gets barren both east and west of the immediate core and could use some real beautifying. It's a major surface transit thoroughfare, a walkable neighbourly street and an important link, all in one. Also, The Danforth. I think the suggestion of treeing Front is a good one, too.

Something like this would mark a sharp, though only partial, diverging from the auto-heavy planning setup we're still dealing with. Out of all the main streets in the downtown, it would not affect too many. In that way, it would still be largely symbolic. But a potent symbol - even mentioning it would cause screams of protest. It would definitely push the current shape of compromise between people and the automobile towards the 'people' end. But it would be bold.

Start with the easy stuff.

The wide parts of College Street, Queen West, Bathurst, University, Bay, Front etc first. Get the ball rolling without having to inflame the war on cars faction. There's no need to get them riled up just to get such an initiative off its feet.

The more contentious ones can come later.

 

[Northern Light]

I noticed a lot of new trees are going to be planted in new planters on the east side of Bay Street, south of Wellesley. There is lots of sidewalk construction going on.

This project has been planned for quite awhile now, there was some issue w/the tender last year and it was delayed.

Good to see it go ahead, instead of the double-row of trees, they will use storm-run-off in the area to irrigate this new bed.

We've seen other new beds go in, check out Dundas, south side, Yonge to Bay, and York, from the rail corridor to Lakeshore.

More are coming

 

[MetroMan]

I'd like to see a (future) Mayor take this on as a pet/legacy project. I believe Joe Pantalone had that lined up if he became Mayor. Seen from the CN Tower, the city is surprisingly green, but it's all the side streets that camouflage the major thoroughfares. These themselves need a tree canopy because they're where Torontonians and tourists experience the city day in and day out.

I'll get in touch with my councillor (Mike Layton) and with Adam Vaughan, Kristyn Wong Tam and Ana Bailão. The four together could transform Queen St. from Parkdale to Yonge St. if they put this on their priority list.

 

[DSC]

I'd like to see a (future) Mayor take this on as a pet/legacy project. I believe Joe Pantalone had that lined up if he became Mayor. Seen from the CN Tower, the city is surprisingly green, but it's all the side streets that camouflage the major thoroughfares. These themselves need a tree canopy because they're where Torontonians and tourists experience the city day in and day out.

I'll get in touch with my councillor (Mike Layton) and with Adam Vaughan, Kristyn Wong Tam and Ana Bailão. The four together could transform Queen St. from Parkdale to Yonge St. if they put this on their priority list.

One can hope that the downtown Councillors (including Pam McConnell) will be responsive but from experience working on the proposed 'pedestrian promenades' on Jarvis, Sherbourne and Front Streets I can tell you that there appears to be VERY little space under our sidewalks (at least downtown) - most are filled with conduits, wires, pipes and 'stuff. Finding a place where a trench can go is not easy. In many locations it's a tiny tree coffin or nothing.

 

[pman]

One can hope that the downtown Councillors (including Pam McConnell) will be responsive but from experience working on the proposed 'pedestrian promenades' on Jarvis, Sherbourne and Front Streets I can tell you that there appears to be VERY little space under our sidewalks (at least downtown) - most are filled with conduits, wires, pipes and 'stuff. Finding a place where a trench can go is not easy. In many locations it's a tiny tree coffin or nothing.

Two questions:
Why can't the buried infrastructure go under the road instead of the sidewalk in these situations?
Can we learn anything from other cities that seem to manage successful mature tree plantings (and buried electrical wires) on streets no wider than Jarvis, Sherbourne or Front?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Two questions:
Why can't the buried infrastructure go under the road instead of the sidewalk in these situations?
Can we learn anything from other cities that seem to manage successful mature tree plantings (and buried electrical wires) on streets no wider than Jarvis, Sherbourne or Front?

If there are repairs or maintenance to be done, it would disrupt the traffic and cause congestion. After all, roads are for cars, as Rob Ford believes.

Personally, I agree with you but would rather see the sidewalk space itself grow wider as the buildings get replaced.