Street Trees Planted Along 236th St SW for Main Street Project – nextmlt.com

This week the Main Street contractor began installing street trees that will line both sides of 236th St SW between I-5 and 56th Ave W. The trees are being planted in tree pits that are covered by a metal grate. Ultimately 20 trees will be installed on the project.

The type of tree is called the Autumn Blaze Maple, which is a hybrid of the silver maple and the red maple. The Autumn Blaze Maple is a fast growing species that has leaves that turn a raspberry-red color during the fall. The Autumn Blaze Maple does not produce the helicopter seed pods that many other maple trees produce.

In addition to the 20 street trees the project will install over 1,200 more plants, a combination of shrubs, groundcover and perennials. Shrub species include blue mist dwarf fothergilla, birchleaf spirea, white azalea, blush pink heavenly bamboo, purple gem dwarf rhododendron, concorde Japanese barberry, magic carpet spirea and Himalayan blueberry. Groundcovers include archers gold lemon thyme and waterperry blue speedwell. Perennials are purple de oro daylily. The majority of these plants will be located in ground-level planting areas.

At key locations there will also be concrete planters that will have some Town Center neighborhood branding features.

This post on Strong Towns describes why street trees are so essential to our communities:

Street trees provideplenty of pragmatic benefitsin terms of urban planning and environmental wellness, such as shade from heat and relief from humidity, making streets more walkable and bikable andlowering the average electricity bills of surrounding households. They alsolower the average driving speed,making roadways safer for pedestrians and drivers alike. Theres even evidence that theyimprove the health of nearby residents,lower crime rates, and drastically increase property valuesin an area.

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Street Trees Planted Along 236th St SW for Main Street Project - nextmlt.com