McKownville Improvement Association

Street trees, and trees and shrubs for neighborhood yards - Plant McKownville

McKownville is fortunate to have a substantial population of mature trees along many of our residential streets. The Association has in the past sponsored a tree planting program to encourage replacement of street trees lost over the years. This year, we're looking forward to renewing and expanding the program, especially because the water main, stormwater and gas main project excavations have caused the removal of even more of our street trees.  We have opened discussions with the Town of Guilderland on ways that we might work together on a program to preserve our existing trees and replace many that have been lost.

A Master Gardener volunteer has compiled lists of trees and shrubs selected for their suitability to our climate, and soils, and for resistance to pests and diseases; many are native to our area. An introductory page briefly explains the practical considerations used for selection.
One list is of trees recommended for placement along the "street lawns", including tall varieties, and a separate section of those with lower mature heights suitable for planting beneath utility cables.
Two other lists are also provided of recommended trees, and shrubs, for planting in neighborhood yards.
There is also a page containing a selection of online and book reference resources.
Planting a mixture of species is now preferred, so that insect pests and fungal diseases are less likely to damage or kill many or all of a neighborhood tree population. Native varieties provide a food web to native butterflies, moths, and birds, unlike many non-native varieties.  We encourage any resident thinking of planting new trees and shrubs on their property to study these lists and the detailed descriptions provided, and to choose from them varieties to plant.

Flooding on Western Avenue
The Association was active in the initiation and support of the older project to reduce the frequency of flooding on Western Avenue, completed in 2009.
The Association has remained active in encouragement of efforts by the Town of Guilderland to further remediate this problem, and supports the recent effort by the Town to study ways to improve the situation by enlarging retention basin areas upstream of the McKownville Reservoir, and replacing the undersize drains adjacent to Western Avenue.

Improvements in McKownville Reservoir park
William McKown's historical highway marker was recently installed here, but the park lacks a sign, the gazebo originally planned is not present, a replacement of the memorial tree for Sue Brown is needed.....and if the reservoir was returned to a lake as part of the future flooding remediation, it would be a significant improvement of the park, for aesthetic as well as recreational reasons (fishing, and ice skating, to name two former activities enjoyed by some McKownville residents).

Traffic calming
The Association is supporting efforts to reduce the speed limit from 40 mph to 30 mph on Western Avenue from the Albany city line to the Northway.
Future efforts for improving pedestrian and street safety are anticipated, especially requesting actions to eliminate cut-through speeders on streets suffering from this menace, and including the lowering of the residential speed limit.

 
Historical highway marker for William McKown