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Take a Step Towards Climate Justice in Seattle.
13 trees, including 10 native conifers, are slated for removal by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) for 12-foot wide sidewalks.
While standard sidewalks in Seattle are generally 6 feet wide (and can even be reduced to 4 feet while still compliant with the ADA), SDOT is making these 12 feet wide. In the process, they are also scraping out another 7 feet of width — totaling 19-foot-wide clearcuts along 1st Ave NE.
12-foot-wide sidewalks are not standard. This extra-wide sidewalk size was also used near the Roosevelt Light Rail Station. Roosevelt is now Seattle's fastest-growing urban heat island due to poor planning for trees and nature.
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12-foot-wide sidewalks aren't inherently the problem. The real issue is the persistent failure to preserve mature trees inside sidewalk projects, resulting in the unecessary loss of the vital benefits they provide to pedestrians.
We can do better, and SDOT has already proven that.
Along Aurora, 20 sweetgum trees were saved by SDOT while making critical sidewalk improvements.
In South Park, SDOT cleverly worked to protect mature trees from being removed while also enhancing sidewalk usability. We're asking SDOT to employ the same thoughtful planning here.
Street trees are the ultimate climate justice issue. They cool the sidewalk and surrounding street by up to 10 degrees on days with extreme heat. They provide life-saving shade for pedestrians, public transit riders, and those without shelter. They are a public good that must be preserved in the name of climate justice for all Seattlites.
Removing these trees doesn't align with SDOT's stated goals for the project. Trees are a public good, and should be treated as such. It's even aligned with the stated goals of the project:
Yes! Simply reducing the sidewalk width to Seattle's standard 6-foot size would ensure these trees are saved. Even a 6-foot sidewalk, with another 7-foot buffer (as proposed), would still allow most of the 13 trees to remain.
Send an email to city leadership, asking them to build this sidewalk around existing trees. Customize the prewritten email below, or click here to send it directly.
To: angela.brady@seattle.gov, elizabeth.sheldon@seattle.gov, francisca.stefan@seattle.gov, 1stAveNEPath@seattle.gov, drue.nyenhuis@seattle.gov, diane.walsh@seattle.gov, mayor.wilson@seattle.gov, debora.juarez@seattle.gov
Subject: Protect trees while improving access to the 130th St Link station
Dear SDOT Leadership, Mayor Wilson, and Councilmember Juarez,
I’m writing to urgently request that the City revise the 1st Ave NE sidewalk design between 120th and 130th Streets, which would remove 13 large native conifers to build 12-foot-wide sidewalks. This level of tree loss is unnecessary—slightly narrower sidewalks would still meet safety and accessibility needs.
SDOT has already demonstrated better outcomes, preserving mature trees during sidewalk upgrades on Aurora Ave N and in South Park. That same approach must be applied here.
These sidewalks are intended to improve access to the 130th St Link station, but excessive pavement will worsen heat and flooding in a city already suffering from severe urban heat island impacts.
Please direct SDOT to revise this design now and protect these irreplaceable trees before removal decisions are finalized.
Sincerely,
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