Information was recently shared via social media about the city’s plans for Interlaaken Drive. Concerns were raised about tree removal and lack of public information. These concerns were understandably heightened by markings on selected trees, giving some the impression the trees would be cut soon.
Below is the correct information about what is planned, to make sure our residents have the facts about the safety improvements planned for Interlaaken Drive.
It is also important for people to know that when the city outlines road safety improvement projects, it seeks holistically to minimize impacts on the environment and the community whenever possible. When making decisions, everything must be taken into consideration. That includes balancing the desire to preserve trees and the natural environment with creating a safe place for residents to live and be able to access their community.
Did the city mark trees to be cut?
The cluster of trees marked with an orange spray painted dot was marked in May by a survey crew. The survey was tied to the city’s planned road improvements for Interlaaken Drive.
The trees were marked to record each location and size. This inventory was done so we could design the project in a way that had the least impact on the surrounding natural environment and abutting private property.
In the area where the trees are marked, the proposed road alignment was shifted as far east as possible to save as many trees on the west side as possible.
Most of the trees that are marked will not be cut.
Is the city going to cut trees on Interlaaken Drive?
Yes.
The road improvement project will add sidewalks and make other road improvements on Interlaaken Drive between Washington Boulevard and 112th Street SW.
This will require the removal of trees.
Tree preservation in Lakewood is a City Council priority and a public priority. Because of this, significant efforts are being made to design this project to minimize the impact to surrounding trees.
To reduce how many trees need to be cut, the city shifted the design of the road layout to the east. There is no additional room on the public right-of-way to move the road any further. The shift was made solely to preserve trees. It resulted in a 62% reduction in the number of trees that need to be cut.
Had the project stayed along the current layout, 80 trees would have to come down. Now the city anticipates only needing to remove approximately 30 trees.
The city understands 30 trees is still a lot. But we have to balance public safety and the need for safe pedestrian access for the neighborhood with preserving the natural environment.
What is planned for Interlaaken Drive?
There is some confusion as to what work is planned and where on Interlaaken Drive. The project that will begin in 2025 spans between Washington Boulevard SW and 112th Street SW. Improvements include:
- Full removal and rebuild of Interlaaken Drive, including removing a 1-foot rise in the roadway.
- Stormwater system upgrades.
- Curb gutter and sidewalk installation.
- Paving the roadway.
Frontage improvements along the west side of Interlaaken Drive will connect to sidewalks installed at the Washington Blvd SW roundabout. The sidewalks will connect to existing sidewalks at 116th St SW. Improvements then continue north to 112th St SW. Frontage improvement on the east side of the road will connect to the sidewalks from Washington Blvd SW and continue north and end at 112th St SW.
These sidewalks will allow people to safely travel across the city from Steilacoom Boulevard to Washington Boulevard using sidewalks added to Hipkins Road, Idlewild Road, 112th Street and Interlaaken Drive.
It will also make it safer for children to walk to and from school and allows residents in the area to walk safely in their neighborhood without being on a narrow road with minimal shoulders.
Are other projects planned for Interlaaken Drive?
Information was also shared about long-range plans that call for the extension of sidewalks on Interlaaken Drive between Holly Hedge to Short Lane, as well as to Mount Tahoma Drive. These sections are listed on the city’s long-range transportation improvement plan, along with many other road projects across the city. Because they are listed doesn’t mean they will be done immediately. There are many other projects the city is focused on first, making it unlikely the proposed improvements to the smaller sections of Interlaaken Drive will be considered before 2029 or 2030.
When those projects are ready for construction, information will be shared publicly about what is planned.
In the 40 years that I have lived in Lakewood, Interlaaken has always been a freeway, hence the installation of speed-bumps! Planning to remove them only increases liability.
In addition, pouring unnecessary concrete throughout neighborhoods that have little to no foot traffic only adds to Lakewood’s heat island affect. Much like the city’s plans to remove Oaks along Bridgeport, to accommodate the states
affordable housing requirements, tree removal of any sort, only moves us further from our goal of a 40% tree canopy. Simply put, it is irresponsible planning. If the Public Works Dept. find themselves with excess (state) grant money, perhaps they should allocate the money towards areas of need.
Annie, I agree with you. The foot traffic along Interlaaken has never been as frequent as on Hipkins where people walk to the business area, to Fort Steilacoom Park, and to catch the bus on Steilacoom Blvd. If it is necessary to remove trees then those trees should be replaced with shade-bearing trees along the sidewalks not low-growing shrubs as seen along the recently completed sidewalks on Hipkins.
It’s not about the trees. It’s about somebody (ies) making a ton of money off of all the senseless roundabouts and sidewalks. You’ll never convince me someone on the board isn’t making serious kickback money while the engineering plans just make traffic more dangerous. Take Veterans Drive. Where do you pull over if an emergency vehicle is coming? Where can you safely pull over if you vehicle breaks down? Answer to both questions is nowhere. And bicycles on sidewalks? Against the law everywhere else. Like I said. Follow the money. Trees don’t matter. Money in someone’s pocket does.
Yes we were victims of the Veterans Dr sidewalks, they took half our front yard and removed a beautiful Leyland cypress hedge. Our house on Veterans Dr was one of the nicest houses on that street, we had people stopping and thanking us for cleaning up that property. People enjoyed our home on the way into the VA Hospital. City of Lakewood was impossible to work with. There were very hostile and didn’t care what they were doing to the home owners, my husband and I put our heart and soul into that old house and it broke our hearts when they just came I and ripped apart all our hard work, in fact we had to sell our house. We just couldn’t stand the way Lakewood handled , what the called improvement. We drive by that house now and it has gone back to being a rundown unkept eyesore. In just 4 years . Sidewalks did nothing for Veterans Dr.
I agree with you Tom Riggs.
Complaints noted, I’d like to say THANKS to City Staff and Council, Public Works & Engineering in particular, for extraordinary progress to improve Lakewood’s streets, roads and sidewalks. It’s been a challenging task from day one and will remain so, considering ROW restrictions, tracking grants to augment city funds, and the patchwork planning, if there was planning at all, preceding incorporation. Skeptics might better appreciate the typical complexities of design parameters, thought and process involved with the trust and insight one gains by informed and actual civic engagement of city projects and opportunities.
I do appreciate the complexity of carrying out these projects. However, I have always wondered if anyone actually visited any of these sites and observed how they were being used. One prime example is the sidewalks installed in front of Dower Elementary School. (Formerly, John Dower). I observe every day how parents are forced to take their young children back and forth across a busy street because they can no longer park in front of the school on John Dower Rd. The new sidewalks installed there force them to park across the street. This is definitely not safer. Observation of how the area was used might have turned up a better solution.