City tore up my street for a bike lane and I had to fight to keep my shade trees
They started ripping up the north side of East 14th in my neighborhood 5 weeks ago, and the plan called for cutting down 11 mature oak trees to fit the new bike lane. I went to the planning meeting with photos of the summer heat on that block and asked why they could not shift the lane 3 feet into the parking strip instead. The city engineer admitted nobody had run a shade study, and they agreed to keep 9 of the 11 trees after 40 of us showed up twice. It worked, but I still wonder why regular people had to catch it, so who else has had to fight their own city over tree removal for a green project?
Saw a story about a Portland crew that cut down like 20 trees for a greenway before anyone noticed. The whole "nobody ran a shade study" thing kills me, that should be step one.