Downtown Waynesville will soon be a little greener
Jun. 15—Work to install a new set of street trees and benches on Main Street in Waynesville is nearly complete — and once the trees get a few years on them, a missing piece of the tree canopy will begin to fill in.
The trees flank Main Street near Massie's Furniture. The $35,000 project entailed more than just digging a hole.
Parking spots were claimed to make way for the project and the footprint of the brick sidewalk expanded for seating — a configuration known in public works terms as a "bump out."
"Each bump out will have a bench for public seating where people can stop and enjoy our downtown," said Assistant Town Manager Jesse Fowler said. "That would fill out the aesthetic scene of Main Street."
The chosen species, Black gum, grows 30 to 50 feet tall, with a straight trunk and small greenish-white flowers in the spring. A big selling point is a root system that won't buckle the sidewalk or Main Street.
"It's a good tree for urban settings," Fowler said.
Filling out the street tree canopy along the upper section of Main was part of a streetscape master plan dating back to 2018.
"The vision of putting trees in was to reduce heat coming in, and at the same time it will be aesthetically pleasing to look at," said Dave Barone, incoming chair of the Downtown Waynesville Commission.
Bump outs were originally met with opposition from some downtown merchants, due to the loss of the parking spaces. But Fowler said those opinions have changed over time as bump outs are becoming more universally accepted.
"There has been a change in culture in so far as bump outs are concerned," he said.
In addition to enhancing the appeal of Main Street and providing shady benches, the bump outs also serve as a traffic calming measure on that section of Main that sees heavy foot and vehicle traffic.
The two bump outs effectively make the pedestrian crossing a shorter distance and provide a better sightline for oncoming traffic without having to peer around parked vehicles.
"That is desired on a little thin Main Street like that," Fowler said.
Two years ago, the Downtown Waynesville Committee took another look at the 2018 master plan with help from internationally-renowned landscape architect Thomas Woltz. Woltz, who traces his lineage to Waynesville's founding fathers, moved back to his hometown several years ago. His top recommendation: fill in the missing pieces of the tree canopy.
"If we had trees bridging over the street, it not only gives you shade but completes the feeling of a gateway," Woltz said. "It is a very simple thing and would only sacrifice one parking space for a bump out to plant a tree."
Part of the $35,000 price tag includes an almost $10,000 grant from the Mib and Phil Medford Endowment Fund. That requires new curbing, drainage and storm water controls, and new concrete.
