OSU: More, better trees will be planted than cut

Karen Dixon sometimes sends her engineering students out to study the messy intersection of 15th Street and Jefferson Avenue on the Oregon State University campus.

"It has a lot of conflicts between pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles," said Dixon, an associate professor of engineering.

On Tuesday night, OSU and city of Corvallis officials held a public meeting regarding a planned traffic project along 14th and 15th streets, telling 25 people in the audience that it will make pedestrians and bicyclists safer, and make bus rides quicker.

The only hitch is that 32 trees will be removed.

"We're putting in 43 new trees," said Mike Blair, OSU civil engineering manager.

Plans include widening the intersections where 14th and 15th Streets meet Jefferson and Monroe avenues and adding bike lanes, right-turn cut-out lanes buses can negotiate, new sections of sidewalk, improved street crossings and street lights that don't project into the sky.

The Corvallis City Council, which had three members in attendance, will discuss the issue at its June 2 meeting.

OSU had planned to begin the project late this month or in early June and finish in October, but faced outcry - some from city officials - over a lack of public input.

Steve Rogers, Corvallis public works director, said the city erred in not having a meeting earlier.

Vincent Martorello, OSU facilities manager, acknowledged the project likely would be delayed.

He also stressed the removal of 32 trees wasn't as bad as it seemed. Five of the trees planned for removal are in deteriorating health, while another 10 were scheduled for removal as part of another project, he said.

Blair said the street and sidewalk alignment will be adjusted to save 18 trees.

The dominant tree species being removed is sweet gum, which is considered unacceptable for street trees now because the tree's roots push up sidewalks and its limbs leave debris in bike lanes.

About 15 new trees will be Valley Forge elms, which in future decades will be much more significant than any of the trees removed, OSU officials said.

A memorial cherry tree for a Japanese student will not be removed, however.

Audience reaction was mixed.

Dixon and others said bike lanes and turn lanes - including a left-turn signal on Jefferson to southbound 15th Street, a spot notoriously difficult to cross because of foot-traffic from nearby residence halls - will be big improvements.

"I hate to see some of the trees go, but sometimes they have to go," said city resident Ray Harris.

Resident Tina Empol, a former council member, worried replacement trees will get vandalized, as sometimes happens on the route from campus to downtown Corvallis bars. "It's the perfect toy for a Thursday night snap."

Others complained about the lack of notice about the project, wondered if it was necessary and said it would encourage more people to drive through campus, and drive faster.

Steve Rogers, Corvallis Public Works director, said the project was meant, in part, to encourage alternate modes of transportation.

Adding bike lanes there had been on the city's to-do list for about 20 years.

Buses also can't turn right from Jefferson to go north on 15th, or from 15th onto Monroe, so they have to backtrack around the city, adding time to riders' trips.