June 29th , 2026
Dear Road Commission of Kalamazoo County Board Members,
The residents involved in the campaign to amend your SS4A project are still very active and continue to gain support throughout the county. We have now secured 1,933 petitions to support our amendment and they are attached to this email for your review. We encourage you to read through the comments that residents left for you. We have only been soliciting petition support for four weeks and will continue our campaign through the next few months to gather more support if need be.
We have also attached two letters for your review. The first is a letter of support from the Schoolcraft Township Board that Don Ulsh delivered to the Road Commission during the week of June 15th. The second is a letter of support from the Kalamazoo Audubon Society and was sent directly to the Road Commission during the week of June 22nd.
I would also like to clear up some misleading information that may be circulating through the Road Commission that emanated from the June 17th Township Supervisors meeting held at the Road Commission office on S. 26th Street. I personally attended this meeting and witnessed a Township representative advise the Road Commission that they should attempt to ‘educate the residents’ on the impact of roadside trees (and tree canopies over the road) which he claimed causes increased potholes and road deterioration. Travis Bartholomew, David Pawloski and Randy Thompson were present at the meeting and also present when this comment was made.
To clear up these misleading comments, we would like to present the following research studies regarding tree line roads and the real impact they have. Road funding and municipal budgets are critical issues for our community, and we are sharing some vital, peer-reviewed infrastructure data regarding a common misconception currently influencing local road policy: the idea that overhanging tree canopies cause potholes. While it seems intuitive that shaded areas might hold moisture longer, formal studies conducted by state departments of transportation and municipal engineers show that removing healthy tree canopies actually degrades roads faster, costing taxpayers more money.
When addressing road policy, two major pieces of empirical research are highly relevant:
· The Environmental Shield (Taxpayer Cost Savings): McPherson & Muchnick, 2005: The Effects of Street Tree Shade on Asphalt Concrete Pavement Surfaces. This 30-year study tracking identical road segments discovered that direct, unshaded sunlight causes the light oils in asphalt binder to evaporate—a process called volatilization. This causes the road to dry out, oxidize, and crack prematurely. The study found that unshaded roads required 6 expensive resurfacing treatments over 30 years, while roads protected by large overhanging tree canopies required only 2.5 treatments, saving local governments thousands of dollars per mile. Link to this study is here:
Effects of Street Tree Shade on Asphalt Concrete Pavement Performance
When county road commissions engage in widespread clear-cutting of healthy overhanging trees, they are inadvertently stripping our roadways of a natural shield against UV damage and heat oxidation, shortening the lifespan of the asphalt. Potholes are caused by heavy traffic flexing pavement where water has entered an already existing crack—cracks that form much faster when asphalt is left baking in the direct sun without canopy shade.
· The Freeze-Thaw Reality (Ohio DOT Study): Naik, Matlack, Khoury, Sinha, & McAvoy (2020): Effects of Tree Canopy on Pavement Condition, Safety and Maintenance – Phase 2, Ohio Department of Transportation / Federal Highway Administration. Report No. FHWA/OH-2021/24. Because their region deals with severe winter freeze-thaw cycles, the Ohio Department of Transportation conducted a study on rural road tree canopies. They found no statistical correlation between tree canopies and increased road cracking or potholes. In fact, they discovered that mature canopies act as an umbrella, intercepting rain and snow before it ever touches the pavement, which actually reduces the amount of water that can seep into cracks and freeze.
This Ohio DOT study was a two-phase research project commissioned by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration, conducted by researchers at Ohio University. The study formally concluded that removing or aggressively clear-cutting healthy tree canopies cannot be justified as a form of routine road maintenance (Naik et al., 2020). Link to the report is here:
Effects of Tree Canopy on Pavement Condition, Safety and Maintenance – Phase 2
Urban forestry studies generally show that the UV and heat protection provided by a tree canopy actually extends the overall lifespan of asphalt pavement, often outweighing the negative impacts of moisture retention and debris.
We would like to note that we have traveled each of the roads in the SS4A project and there are no trees close enough to the road whereby their root balls/root systems are impacting the pavement. Trees that close to the road were removed years ago when the original paving and repaving projects were completed.
We would also like to officially address the RCKC’s proposal to provide residents with ‘the opportunity’ to buy saplings at 50% of the cost. The RCKC will offer this to impacted residents to replace the mature trees the RCKC currently plans to cut down on their property. Residents are voicing more frustration to this proposal and the term we are hearing is “adding insult to injury”. This is not a satisfactory resolution for the residents angered by their tree loss. During the June 16th RCKC Board meeting, one board member referred to this offering as a way to ‘create a legacy’. The legacy and historical trees are already there and should be there for generations to come. If we don’t clear cut them, there will be no need to recreate it and no additional cost to residents. Further, these saplings will not provide the blowing snow barriers needed to prevent icy road conditions during winter months.
Once again, consistent to our first official email we sent to you on June 15th, we are asking the RCKC Board to vote on and direct the RCKC to compromise with the citizens/residents of the County and submit an amendment to their SS4A grant project whereby the RCKC only removes trees impeding visibility at intersections, as well as removing dead trees or dead limbs along roadsides... not clear cutting them all to create ‘Clear Zones’.
Thank you,
Brad Sadowski