As some Sheridan Drive residents worry about how a barrier wall will impact their trees, the city says it has a plan in place for displaced shrubbery.
Dozens of residents attended a public information session on the replacement of a barrier wall last Wednesday night at the Vital Grandin Catholic School. The construction team fielded a number of questions around the work being done in the Sturgeon Heights area, specifically on the east side of St. Albert Trail between Hebert Road and Sterling Street.
Thomas Manuel, who has lived along Sheridan Drive for the past six years, wanted to get more information on what the city plans to do with the trees that back onto where the barrier wall is planned to go.
“They are taking six of my probably 35-year-old maple trees out,” he said. “I want to find out what’s happening compensation-wise for that, because they seemed to skim over that. They are moving the wall into the property line and they’ve asked for a four-foot easement on our property that needs to be free and clear of the trees. It’s really a shame because it’s going to drastically affect the backyard.”
Manuel added he’s been in the dark on the issue since October.
In October, the city held an open house at Vital Grandin School on the barrier wall, where Sturgeon Heights and Braeside residents had the chance to ask city and engineering officials about how the barrier would impact their backyards.
The old barrier wall gave some property owners access to city land, which they used to expand their backyards. Estimates in October were that some homes could lose five or more metres of land.
Juliann Burke, spokesperson for the city, said the barrier wall itself will be built on city property, although a utility right-of-way spanning four feet from the barrier wall may impact the way residents are able to use their backyards.
The agreement gives the city space to do repair work if needed, although it’s not entirely clear how much room is needed. Some of the property owners impacted by the change to the barrier wall will have to restrict some activities in their backyard, like building sheds and garages, so the city can access things like underground gas, wastewater and storm water lines that are located on residents' properties.
Burke said trees on city property that need to be removed will be replaced elsewhere.
"At this time, it is estimated that approximately 95 trees (combination of public and private trees) will be removed in 2019," she said.
As for compensation for privately owned trees, Burke said a third-party engineering consultant would determine the replacement value. She added homeowners can retain their own certified arborist to challenge the dollar value at their own cost.
Mark Tuttle, who also lives on Sheridan, came out Wednesday night as well to learn what the city plans to do with his backyard trees. He said a few years ago, the city planted the trees and turned them over to Tuttle.
“Initially, the City of St. Albert was of the opinion they had to be moved,” he said. “They were going to cut them down if we didn’t move them. If they want the trees out, we certainly want them to be replaced at some point. If they are going to cut them down or whatever they’re going to do with them, that action has to take place before they close the wall in front.”
City council decided to replace the existing sound barrier wall along the Trail in order to bring it up to industry standards. A review found the wall had structural issues and was deteriorating.
Design of the project started in 2017 with construction being spread out between 2018 and 2020.
The first phase focused on the northern section of the wall between Villeneuve and Giroux Road. The southern portion is scheduled to be spread out over two years with Hebert Road to Sterling Street slated for this year and Sterling to Sturgeon Road in 2020.
The entire project, including a study, is estimated to cost just under $6 million over a five-year period.
Back in October, Sturgeon Heights and Braeside residents expressed concerns at an earlier public information session that the realignment for the barrier wall would encroach on property owners’ backyards. The city needs to realign to make room for a three-metre-wide asphalt walking path next to the Trail.
Not everyone who attended the meeting was worried about the project.
William Chrystian and his girlfriend Amanda Vickary attended the session because the home they planned to buy could be affected by the project. Chrystian, who is moving to St. Albert from Edmonton, said he was more interested than worried about what the city was doing with the barrier wall.
He said the various displays at the session helped him better understand what the scope of the project was.
– With files from Jennifer Henderson
