After 2-1/2 years of work, the Greenwich Post Road Greenscape Task Force is entering the final leg of an important project to transform Route 1 from Port Chester to Stamford into a graceful tree-lined boulevard.
A group of dedicated individuals including the Town Tree Warden has been steadily walking the entire length of the Route 1 corridor marking locations for as many as 500 trees. The Department of Public Works has then followed their path, verifying that each proposed tree location meets Town highway and safety standards.
Once the flagging is completed, a detailed Landscape Plan will be submitted for approval to the CT Department of Transportation, which controls the Route 1 right-of-way. The proposal will then follow town processes for approval.
The Greenscape Task Force was initiated to implement goals contained in the Town’s 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development.
The task force includes members of the Architectural Review Committee, Town Tree Warden, Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Conservation Dept and the Dept of Public Works, as well as town residents.
This project will help ensure Greenwich’s natural beauty and sustainability are enhanced for generations to come.
The Greenwich Tree Conservancy is proud to fund the cost of both the trees and their installation and has agreed to plant the 500 trees over the next four years.
Maintenance will be part of the Parks and Recreation Department’s routine tree care throughout Town. The trees have been selected to conform with Eversource’s standards for power line protection.
On Thursday, May 26 at 1:30pm, the task force invites anyone interested to join them along with the First Selectman Fred Camillo and State Rep Steve Meskers at 1330 East Putnam Avenue in Old Greenwich to begin the last leg of marking these important tree sites.
The Waterfall Project at Greenwich High School is a public-private partnership working in cooperation with the Board of Education, the Greenwich Sustainability Committee, and the Board of Selectmen of Greenwich.
The Waterfall Project is co-chaired by Ashley Cole and Greenwich Board of Education member Joe Kelly.
The Tree Conservancy sits down with Dr. Kramer who came to Greenwich in 2019 bringing with him a wealth of horticultural knowledge and experience.
How does your background influence your work and how do you divide your time and responsibilities? To my work I bring my prior experience and education but also my passion. As a horticulturalist I am intrigued by the nature of all plants, as an environmentalist by the nature of native plants and the environment, as a humanist I am intrigued with how humans interact with nature. In my early career I worked in five different Olmstead gardens and came to realize an intuitive sharing of his vision of coexistence with nature as opposed to conquering it. As tree warden I use my ecological background in making planting decisions on town properties and rights of way that have lasting ecosystem impact. By state statute I hold tree hearings with public input and decisions that must be rendered. One part of my job is more formal and legal and the other more naturalistic and environmental.
On Monday afternoon the Tree Warden, Dr. Greg Kramer announced he approved the chopping of two 16″ Honey Locust trees.
“Having closely listed to the explanations as to why the two Honey Locust trees will need to be removed and understanding the process by which the remediation of the contaminated soil transpires, as Tree Warden it is my decision and have concluded that the two trees are approved for removal,” Kramer said.
However, the tree warden said that having heard prior and current concerns from residents and the Greenwich Tree Conservancy of the continuing loss of trees on the campus, he will require that four new Willow Oak (Quecus phellos) trees of no less than 3″ caliper be replanted on the Greenwich High School campus…[continued]
By Urling Searle President, Greenwich Tree Conservancy
Do you know that you live in an Urban Forest?
You Do!
Bruce Park – Spring Flair by Richard Hein
A quick online search on the benefits trees provide yields a remarkable and extensive body of work. In the US alone, trees are estimated to provide an annual economic value of $18.3 billion from their removal of air pollutants, reduction of energy use, holding of carbon and avoidance of pollutant emissions.
Trees are often the welcome patch of green our eyes seek when looking out a nearby window and the familiar backdrop of outdoor enjoyment with family and friends. The trees along our streets and in our parks, and backyards, make up what is termed an urban forest. A collection of woody plant vegetation growing within a city, town or suburb. In Greenwich we are fortunate to have an internationally recognized arboretum.
As the first leaves of spring unfold, they begin absorbing carbon dioxide transforming it into oxygen through photosynthesis. This produces a measurable spring cleaning of our air. When that rumble of thunder brings with it a downpour, trees retain great quantities of rainwater in the ground, allowing it to filter slowly into the soil where it supports life and fills underground aquifers. This greatly reduces the quantity of toxic chemicals that would otherwise run onto neighboring properties, nearby waterways and Long Island Sound.
When you cross over to the tree shaded side of a street or seek out a spot under a tree to relax on a hot summer afternoon you know how well trees cool the air. The shade created by trees lowers the energy bills of surrounding homes and offices. It also lowers the temperature in parking lots that otherwise act as large heat islands….[continued]
Last Thursday afternoon, the major tree supporters of the Town of Greenwich gathered in front of Town Hall to pay homage to Cheryl Dunson, retiring president of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy (GTC). Standing beneath the branches of a pin oak tree planted on the front lawn the year the Tree Conservancy was founded 15 years ago, First Selectman Fred Camillo read his “Certificate of Special Recognition” to Dunson, citing “her dedication to and advocacy for the Greenwich Tree Conservancy which she helped co-found in January 2007, and served as vice president and president during her 15-year tenure.”…[continued]
As the Greenwich Tree Conservancy celebrates the 15th anniversary of its founding, the Board of Directors announced the election of Urling Searle as its new president.
Searle has served in a variety of GTC leadership roles, including as a Tree Party co-chair, Communications Committee chair, Program Committee chair and vice president, according to JoAnn Messina, the nonprofit’s executive director.
Among her community contributions, Searle has served on the Town of Greenwich Conservation Commission and currently serves on the First Selectman’s Sustainability Committee and the board of the Greenwich Land Trust…[continued]
The Greenwich Tree Conservancy is a non-profit group of over 1000 supporters whose mission is to preserve and enhance Greenwich’s urban forest to benefit the community. We are writing to underscore the need for a mix of hard and natural sound barriers and a documented vegetation plan to be adopted before road work commences on this project.
CTDOT has a responsibility to do no further harm, and to work with the Town of Greenwich and community stakeholders to mitigate the damage to our roadside forests that has been done in recent years. A century ago, a Connecticut native Gifford Pinchot was named the first Director of the National Forest Service, and he founded the first American Forestry School at Yale. In those early days, it was recognized that trees offered a sense of place, an appeal to tourists and increased property values. We need to apply those criteria to the Greenwich Gateway to Connecticut.
Unfortunately, clear cutting, whether for maintenance or road improvements, has been the favored vegetative management strategy along transportation corridors throughout the State. This management approach is inconsistent with the goals of the recent Governor’s Council on Climate Change report: Taking Action on Climate Change and Building a More Resilient Connecticut for All, which recognizes the importance of protecting and enhancing our forests for both climate mitigation and adaptation/resiliency benefits.
Trees provide many ecosystem and health benefits including purifying air, filtering water which flows into Long Island Sound, the sequestration of atmospheric carbon, enhanced nutrient cycling that promotes biodiversity, and also road noise reduction. Trees act as noise barriers through a phenomenon called sound attenuation, which is the damping of sound. Trees attenuate noise by absorption, deflection, refraction, and masking. Tree parts such as stems, leaves, branches, and wood absorb sound waves. Broadleaf trees are most effective at deflecting sound. However, when broadleaf trees drop their leaves in winter, the sound barrier is lost. Evergreen trees provide a consistent buffer against sound because they keep their needles or leaves across seasons. Evergreens are also fast-growing and can be planted close together, which creates a denser vegetation barrier. So, layering a mix of various species will provide long-term noise reduction results.
The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Roadside Revegetation: An Integrated Approach to Establishing Native Plants 2007 manual presents a thorough guide and notes:
Where modification and increased capacity are needed, ecological health, safety, and efficient transport should not be seen as mutually exclusive goals. Understanding roadside environments, how they interface with adjoining lands, and how to minimize environmental impacts has become a key focus of the Federal Highway Administration (Fekaris 2006). Given political will and proper levels of attention, integration of environmental concerns with transportation can result in significant gains.
https://highways.dot.gov/federal-lands/design/library/roadside-revegetation
We urge you to apply the same strong leadership to ensure that State actions on state land are consistent with climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Successful vegetation management mitigates risk while ensuring that our urban forests are conserved, restored, and made more resilient. Many residents speak to their experience of moving to Connecticut because of the beauty they have seen in their daily commutes, removing this vegetation undermines this quality of life.
The Greenwich Tree Conservancy agrees that there are various methods of noise abatement and this project may require sound barriers, combining hardscape and greenscape solutions. We need to take a multilayered approach in Connecticut to increase the benefits of a “No-Net-Loss” healthy natural roadside environment.
As CTDOT develops its landscape design specs we would like to include the following requests:
• REVIEW MANUAL: CTDOT should review the FHA U.S. DOT ROADSIDE REVEGETATION AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ESTABLISHING NATIVE PLANTS Manual.
https://highways.dot.gov/sites/fhwa.dot.gov/files/docs/federal-lands/design/library/26841/roadside revegetation-manual.pdf
• REVIEW SITE PLANS: Based on the UTC results, the I-95 reforestation plan should be completed, and reviewed by the Town of Greenwich before work begins, to ensure the plans are consistent with both Greenwich and Connecticut’s current environmental goals and standards.
• DETERMINE SOIL QUALITY: Soil samples must be included in the planting plans to determine soil quality. Based on the soil findings, the appropriate fertilizer must be used to ensure trees will thrive. • DBH & HEIGHT: Trees should have a minimum DBH of 3-4 inch caliper.
• NOISE REDUCTION PLANT SPECIES: Year-round noise reduction requires a mix of evergreen, deciduous, and broadleaf trees, and a combination of evergreens such as arborvitaes, spruces, pines and hollies. To be effective sound barriers, these trees must have foliage that reaches to the ground. Trees must be densely planted in staggered rows to decrease noise.
• ABUTTING NEIGHBORS & NEIGHBORHOODS: Trees should be planted in front of sound barriers to further decrease noise and create a sense of place, and behind sound barriers to provide larger canopies that can provide lush skyscapes and shade for abutting and sometimes under-resourced residents and property owners.
• SETTING CANOPY GOALS: “Establishing a Tree Canopy goal is crucial for communities seeking to improve their green infrastructure. A Tree Canopy assessment is the first step in this goal-setting process, providing estimates for the amount of tree canopy currently present in a municipality as well as the amount of tree canopy that could theoretically be established.”
• SURVIVAL AND REPLANTING: Monitoring and management is required to assess the effectiveness of the revegetation project. Monitoring the density of live plants following the first and third year after planting will determine if they have survived and whether the site will need to be replanted.
• VISIONARY DESIGN: A visionary design for the CT Gateway must emphasize the rich environmental assets that we have here in our beautiful state while protecting the quality of life for our residents.
The Federal Highway Administration Revegetation manual notes: “As roads are modified or updated section by section, a tremendous opportunity presents itself to remedy the oversights of the past, mitigating environmental impacts and improving conditions for healthy ecosystems.
Connecticut is filled with beauty, let travelers see trees and vegetation that store carbon, clean our air, provide flood control, provide pollinator pathways, respite for migrating birds, and mitigate noise. The repair project on I-95 is an opportunity create a vision for our State’s future by rebuilding better, together!
After 2-1/2 years of work, the Greenwich Post Road Greenscape Task Force is entering the final leg of an important project to transform Route 1 from Port Chester to Stamford into a graceful tree-lined boulevard.
The Waterfall Project at Greenwich High School is a public-private partnership working in cooperation with the Board of Education, the Greenwich Sustainability Committee, and the Board of Selectmen of Greenwich.
