Sidewalk & tree replacement coming December 2025 at Juanita Village

Published on November 26, 2025

Starting as early as next week, December 1, the property owner at Juanita Village will be replacing the sidewalk along 98th Ave NE. As part of this work, most of the existing street trees along the sidewalk will be removed and then replaced after the new sidewalk is built.  The City has permitted this project in line with City code. The property owner is paying for the full project, including planting new, more appropriate street trees once the sidewalk reconstruction is complete.

City staff in Public Works and Planning & Building, including the City Arborist, have reviewed this situation and recommend replacing the trees. The current trees, and the way they were originally planted, have caused the sidewalk to buckle. If the sidewalk panels were simply replaced, they would buckle again unless the roots were cut or planed down, which would ultimately kill the trees. The City’s standard approach is always to try to preserve trees where possible. Unfortunately, in this case, replacement is the only way to both maintain healthy trees and ensure a safe, accessible sidewalk.