City to spruce up downtown with new tree planters

City sidewalks don't provide the best environment for a tree to grow, but a city effort aims to change that.

As part of a plan to spruce up downtown, the city of Sioux Falls is replacing planters with ones that are more tree-friendly.

There are 481 spaces to plant trees downtown, but those trees typically live fewer than 10 years. They don't do well in the compacted soil or the heat radiating from the concrete and buildings.

"That's always a challenge with all the paving," said Chad Kucker, landscape architect for Confluence.

The company worked with the city to recommend a new design for planters. Metal grates are installed over the soil, and decorative pavers rest on those so they don't compact the soil around the tree roots.The city will replace 70 planters where the trees have died with the new design.

The planters themselves are in need of repair, too. More than 106 planters are listed in poor condition with cracked concrete or crumbling pavers. Some have been in place since a 1970s urban renewal project.

The way the streets look adds to the success of downtown, Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. President Jason Dennison said.

"The streetscapes provide a setting for community events," he said, and it's an inviting atmosphere for people who frequent downtown, he added.

The first step is to paint the black metal rails surrounding some of the planters. Many have peeling paint and dings. Cornerstone Construction will do that work. The tree planter project begins next year.

"It's not heavy construction, but it has a pretty big bang for your buck," city civil engineer Dena Knutson said.

She was part of a team representing several city departments that put together a plan this spring with an inventory of all the downtown street elements -- from planters and benches to banners and street lights. They came up with a five-year schedule for fixing things, dedicating about a half million dollars a year to painting, replacing planters and trash cans and other work.

The city also created a plan for different departments to help maintain different downtown features.

"The idea was to make the streetscape uniform," Knutson said.

Downtown street trees

A city survey found that many trees and planters in downtown Sioux Falls were in poor condition. A project will start next year to replace planters.

481 spaces for trees along downtown streets

411 trees total, including 196 ash, 71 elm, 76 honey locust

70 empty planters

86 trees in poor condition

106 planters in poor condition

Source: City of Sioux Falls Downtown Streetscape Assessment and Standards