Street Planting Priority

One of the biggest and most difficult tasks of the plan was to create a timeline for the work that reflects the plan’s principles and goals. There is no single right answer to this challenge; the important thing is to establish a transparent, justifiable methodology and to apply it consistently. In creating the Street Tree Prioritization, each street location was considered in terms of the following:

TREE EQUITY SCORE

The Tree Equity Score is made up of factors including the existing tree canopy, urban heat island impacts, population density, income, employment status, public health, the presence of children, seniors, people of color, and social vulnerability.

DERECHO TREE LOSS

The derecho hit some parts of Cedar Rapids worse than others. The tree canopy data included in the Tree Equity Score was measured before the derecho and is adjusted by a factor that approximates what it would be today. The best measure we have available is the percentage of street trees that the City had to remove after the storm.

PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE DEMAND

Nowhere are trees more impactful than where people are walking. The Cedar Rapids Pedestrian Master Plan lays out clearly where demand for this infrastructure is highest. This factor is weighted heavily because it subsumes a number of important factors like the presence of schools and higher-density development.

ROADWAY CLASSIFICATION

Classifications of roads make a difference because streets with heavy traffic are more visible and impact more people than local roads.

AVAILABLE PLANTING SITES

Given limited workforce, it is more efficient to plant streets that have more planting locations available.

Street Trees Planting Priority Ranking

View detailed map with key in the Appendices section of CityofCR.com/Releaf

The Overall Ranking

The five factors on page 20 were weighted heaviest to lightest, from Tree Loss down to Available Planting Sites. Each of over 7,500 street segments in Cedar Rapids was evaluated and scored according to the weighted factors, resulting in a numerical prioritization. To implement the plan, street segments should be replanted in order, with all segments with a higher score being replanted before any of a lower score. Since many of the scoring factors vary along the length of their streets, many streets will not be replanted all at once, but no segment is less than a full block long.

Like any system that distributes resources, this one creates shorter and longer wait times, and some people will want to change it to get their street replanted sooner. These impulses will hopefully be quelled by the understanding that this is simply a prioritization of where planting happens first, not where it happens; the plan is to replant the whole city. The prioritization system represents an earnest effort to turn the ReLeaf Plan’s principles into action.

When will my street get trees?

Over the next ten years, every street segment within the city limits will be planted to the extent that planting sites are available. These efforts are scheduled to align with the greatest need as determined through the Street Tree Planting Prioritization ranking.

The ReLeaf Plan provides City staff with a year-by-year breakdown of street segments to focus on. The first two years of the plan are “scaling” years in which the City will be planting and caring for just over 1,700 trees each year. In year three, the number jumps to 3,850 trees a year for the remainder of the plan. The scaling years give the City time to add staff and equipment needed to meet the plan goals and allow for the supply chain to catch up to demand. A total of 34,230 new street trees will be planted and cared for during the life of this plan.

Sewer and street projects may affect street priorities and planting.

> Donate to Cedar Rapids reforestation at treesforever.org/ReLeaf.

Don't want to wait?

If you prefer not to wait for the City’s planting crews to arrive on your street, citizens are welcomed to plant their own street trees within the public right-of-way, adjacent to their property, at any time planting conditions are favorable. A permit must first be submitted and approved before planting, and the species must be selected from the ReLeaf Tree List at CityofCR.com/ReLeaf. Instructions on How to Plant a Tree are found on pages 18-19 of this magazine.

> To access the City’s permit application, and to learn more about replanting in the right-of-way, please visit: CityofCR.com/StreetTrees.