The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has adjusted its plans for road work on South Atherton Street in State College after residents and borough representatives voiced concerns about the number of trees that would be removed.
PennDOT will now remove and replace 15 mostly mature trees between West Beaver Avenue and just past Westerly Parkway, Lou Spaciano, project manager from Borton Lawson engineering, told State College Borough Council on Monday night. That’s about one-third of the 46 that were originally planned for removal based on location of drainage infrastructure and utility lines that are part of the project.
A total of 68 trees will not be impacted.
“I really thank PennDOT for responding like you did in terms of the trees and some of the sensitivities that were expressed here,” Councilman Peter Marshall said.
The removals are part of the plan for PennDOT’s next phase of Atherton Street work, which stretches from Curtin Road on North Atherton Street to just past Westerly Parkway on South Atherton Street. The project started with gas line relocation work last summer and fall but will begin in earnest this summer with the start of borough utility relocations.
Work is expected to conclude in 2024 and also will involve pedestrian and traffic signal improvements, three-foot widening of a portion of the project area, paving and new curbs and, most critically to the road and the tree issue, new drainage, which will be installed along the curbline.
State College Tree Commission, several council members and a number of residents had expressed opposition to the original removal plan, citing the environmental, aesthetic, economic and social benefits mature tree provides.
After a lengthy tree commission meeting in January, PennDOT representatives re-examined the project zone to look at what construction activity would be taking place in each tree removal area, what could be done to improve chances for tree survival and the condition of each tree, Spaciano said.
Project managers then revised inlet and cross pipes at several locations to increase separation from trees and inlets. Sanitary sewer laterals at two locations were adjusted to increase separation from trees.
Twelve of the trees to be removed are red oaks of varying sizes, one is a Norway maple and two are an invasive species of pear trees.
Each of the 15 trees will be replaced with three species identified by the borough arborist — silver linden, sawtooth oak and pacific sunset maple.
Spaciano noted that the trees to be removed are spread throughout the approximately 1 mile area from Beaver Avenue to the project end. The breakdown is as follows:
• 1 between Beaver and Foster avenues — a red oak that is starting to cause the sidewalk to lift, causing a safety hazard.
• 3 between Foster and Fairmount avenues — an oak tree damaged by a vehicle crash, a Norway maple in poor condition and a red oak.
• 3 between Hamilton and Logan avenues — three red oaks, two of which are in marginal condition and have signs of decay.
• 3 between Logan Avenue and Westerly Parkway — all red oaks.
• 3 between Westerly Parkway and the project end — a red oak and two pear trees that are invasive species and needed to be removed.
Separately, 10 trees between West College and West Beaver avenues will be removed as part of a borough streetscape project that is being folded into the PennDOT work. Those removals include six invasive pear trees and were previously approved by the borough when it received $935,000 in Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside funding for the project.
Elaine Shuckers, chair of the borough tree commission, said commission members were “extremely pleased” with PennDOT’s revisions, but added that they want a certified arborist on site to ensure no additional trees are unnecessarily removed and that any trees that might be damaged beyond saving are not left in place.
“We don’t want to take any chances,” Shuckers said. “We want to make sure there are no failure liabilities. We don’t want trees left that have been damaged and will fall.”
Eric Murnyack, PennDOT District 2 portfolio manager, said it’s not as simple as adding an arborist requirement to the contract. An arborist hired by the contractor or PennDOT would be serving their best interests, not necessarily the borough’s he said.
“An arborist on site needs to be somebody that represents the borough,” he said. “…It’s a conflict of interest to allow the contractor to tell you what he’s going to take down. It doesn’t seem to me that it would be in your best interest to have the contractor tell you which trees they want to cut down. Similarly, I don’t think you want PennDOT to do it either.”
Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said staff would continue working closely with PennDOT on communication with the borough arborist.
Project timeline update
PennDOT originally anticipated selecting contract bids this month, with work beginning in the spring. Spaciano said they now expect to let bids in mid-May and issue a notice for contractors to proceed in late June.
Work will continue to span three construction seasons, but the completion date is now anticipated for the fall of 2024, rather than the originally scheduled early summer of that year.
From the summer through late October or early November this year, work will include borough sanitary sewer line replacement and relocation between College Avenue and Westerly Parkway, Penn State sewer and waterline relocations on North Atherton Street and the start of State College Borough Water Authority waterline replacement between College and Beaver Avenue.
With some restrictions for special events, 24-hour work is expected to take place from July 1 through Aug. 31. Weekend work for waterline replacement at the College Avenue intersection is scheduled for Oct. 7-10.
Beginning next spring, waterline replacement will continue, along with roadway and drainage work from the Clay Lane intersection on North Atherton Street to the Irvin Avenue intersection on South Atherton Street.
Weekend work is slated for March 13 to April 21, 2023 at the Beaver Avenue intersection, while 24-hour work is expected from May 12-15, 2023 at Beaver Avenue and May 15 to June 29, 2023 between College and Beaver avenues.
The project will conclude in 2024 with roadway and drainage work from Curtin Road to Clay Lane and Irvin Avenue to Westerly Parkway, as well as final milling and paving of the entire project area.
“It’s going to be three long construction seasons no matter how you slice it just because of the amount of work going on,” Murnyack said.
