Westside Neighborhood wins: Traffic islands to be spared from sewer work

 The historic planted islands in the Westside Neighborhood will be restored following sewer work next year, thanks largely to two grants to the city of Lansing.

But residents, who fought to save the islands, are not out of the woods yet, so to speak. Some of the neighborhood’s oldest trees may not survive the project, a city official said.

Last June, residents were fighting City Hall to save the islands from possible destruction after the city announced plans to bring the Combined Sewer Overflow project to the tree-lined neighborhood.

But the original plan is off the table. 

“The initial design for the West Side CSO project included some concepts for reconfiguring some of the intersections with islands,” Andrew Kilpatrick, the city’s public service director, said. “Based on feedback from residents, the final design retained the existing configuration.”

The $25.5 million sewer project, which is scheduled for next year, has received $16.5 million in grants that will allow the city to maintain historic planted islands in the streets. Most of it, $16 million, is from federal American Rescue Plan funds, while the $500,000 is a grant from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency. 

Schor administration spokesperson Scott Bean said Mayor Andy Schor has been clear that the islands were to be retained after westside residents complained. 

But Bean, who lives in the neighborhood, noted that older trees that have large root systems spread out over sewer lines may have to be removed.

The trees will be replaced if that occurs, he said. 

“We are going to do everything we can,” he said. “We don’t know until we start digging.” 

The potential loss of trees still has neighbors concerned. 

Westside Neighborhood resident Heidi Frei said the community is “relieved the city has listened to the overwhelming support” for keeping the distinct islands and patterns in the neighborhood of older homes and winding streets. 

But she said the community is concerned that reductions in the city’s forestry division will impact the trees in the neighborhood. 

She said that  in 2021 the city removed 497 trees, but only replaced 215 (numbers City Pulse has been unable to confirm with the city). The majority of the removed trees had been damaged in storms, she said. 

Frei said the city’s consistent budget cuts in forestry services over the years have hobbled the capacity to address the complexities of maintaining old-growth trees and replacing the sewer systems in the city. The forestry activities in the city had declined over the last two decades in tandem with significant budgetary pressures. 

“The sewer separation project in ‘90s did have forestry staff supervise,” Frei said, adding that former Mayor David Hollister created a “tree committee.”

“Mayor Schor has not committed to adding to their forestry staff, not even an intern,” she said.

Asked for comment, Bean said, “We have had city forestry staff involved in the CSO project. I know we have had forestry staff in the Westside Neighborhood several times to assess the project’s potential impact and also advise on ways to minimize those impacts.”