Board, staff weigh trail routing and drainage to save trees on Mount Gilead–Roanoke hike-and-bike segment

Board members raised concerns about tree losses on the Mount Gilead to Roanoke hike-and-bike trail and asked staff to explore alternative drainage designs to preserve post oaks and other mature trees.

At the March meeting, a city staff presenter said the 60% plans had routed the trail in a way that would remove several trees. A board member recounted asking project staff why trees far from the trail were marked for removal; staff cited a need for drainage in a ditch. The board member said she had asked staff to “price it out” to evaluate putting a pipe under the sidewalk to preserve trees.

Why it matters: board members said preserving mature trees was a priority and asked staff to present the alternatives at later design milestones. Staff said they had instructed the design team at 60% to reroute the alignment to save as many trees as possible, but the 90% plans still showed some trees flagged for removal because of drainage needs. The board requested cost estimates for piping the drainage under the trail as an alternative to open ditch or larger box culverts.

Engineering trade-offs and cost considerations: participants recalled that, on previous projects, installing box culverts and other larger drainage structures comprised a majority of project cost. One board member said that a pipe under the sidewalk could preserve trees but might have complex pricing and engineering constraints; staff agreed to price the option and report back. The board also discussed possible tapering of trail width—down to 6 feet in constrained areas—versus retaining 10-foot width for consistency.

Public notification and next steps: Public Works will mail notices to affected residents at design, at bid and at construction stages; staff acknowledged they missed the initial design mailing and will send notices at the bid stage. Staff offered to share the 90% plans with board members when ready.