The looming maples that recently hung over a major Auburn thoroughfare now are reduced to stumps.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Following the construction path along Genesee Street in Auburn, nearly 50 rotted or diseased trees were cut down and will be replaced.
Following the construction path along Genesee Street in Auburn, nearly 50 rotted or diseased trees were cut down and will be replaced.
In correlation with the East Genesee Street reconstruction project, crews have felled nearly 50 rotted or diseased trees and pruned nearly 20 more, Superintendent of Engineering Services William Lupien said.
Now, when Bonnie Woodman travels down the street, she sees wide open spaces.
“When I drive down I think, ‘Gee, this looks awful bare,'” the Seward Avenue resident said.
Two trees were cut down in her backyard earlier this year, so Woodman understands that sometimes they must be removed. But it still makes the neighborhood look empty, she said.
As part of the ongoing project, newly planted trees will dot the road corridor. After a while, people will get used to those, Woodman said.
The contractor has until October 2008 to replant the trees, Lupien said. The contractor knows the cost of the trees now, so it would be in his advantage to plant some this year, but only if they won't interfere with the work that still needs to get done, he added.
Both city officials and volunteer forester Walt Aikman have received phone calls from people concerned about the 100-year-old trees crews have removed from that area.
Besides educating them that the silver maples needed to come down, they assure concerned residents the city will replant along East Genesee.
The original plans detailed crews replacing 70 trees. With the discovery of more diseased and rotten trees during the project, Lupien estimated they will replant closer to 100.
“We will replace two for every one we took down,” he said.
Soon, people will see a variety of saplings along the street, such as October Red Maples, Legacy Sugar Maples, Summit Green Ash, Shademaster Honey Locus, Sweet Gums, Harvest Gold Crabapples, Red Oaks and Little League Greenspires.
Workers followed the same process they did for the West Genesee project a few years ago, and a project on South Street, although they didn't have to remove as many trees for those undertakings.
On East Genesee, crews have removed mostly silver maples from the yards along the torn up road. For awhile, urban planners loved the native species because they grow rapidly and survive droughts. However, they are notorious for turning into safety hazards and cities no longer plant them in neighborhoods, said Aikman, with Grow Auburn's Trees.
“In fact, silver maples grow very tall but they are weak wooded and they are messy as they get as larger, as they are very hazardous. We still have quite a few in Auburn,” he said.
Most of the downed timber were losing limbs and beyond their life expectancies.
“I want you to imagine trees 100 feet tall with tons of branches that will snap off in heavy snow fall and heavy winds,” Aikman said.
The region has about two severe storms each decade. During the Labor Day storm in 1998, the city lost dozens of trees and it was a miracle that no one was injured, Aikman said.
The original engineers who drafted the project's plan surveyed the trees for those that must go. They removed ones showing signs of disease, losing limbs, with rotten cores, or were splitting because they were struck by lightening, Lupien said.
Also, workers pruning branches marked additional trees for removal when they saw large holes in the trunk.
They removed a couple trees because their placement conflicted with the utilities, for example a sanitary sewer. However, a good majority left because it was their time, Lupien said.
“We don't take down any tree for no reason,” he added.
Workers should remove a quarter of the city's estimated 8,000 trees because they have grown too tall and may show signs of disease, Aikman said.
Many residents comment on the fact that the trees are roughly 100 years old, when their parents and grandparents walked the streets, but Aikman reminds people that particular species is only expected to thrive for a century. The weak trees especially can pose danger in the residential areas that borders the well-traveled corridor.
“People know that it's creating a dramatic effect and they don't like what they see. ... I don't like what I see,” Aikman said.
But it's necessary and the street renovation project creates an opportunity to removes the plants on a massive scale, he said.
“I don't want to see the trees (removed), but it's part of the management of the urban forest,” Aikman said.
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
Now, when Bonnie Woodman travels down the street, she sees wide open spaces.
“When I drive down I think, ‘Gee, this looks awful bare,'” the Seward Avenue resident said.
Two trees were cut down in her backyard earlier this year, so Woodman understands that sometimes they must be removed. But it still makes the neighborhood look empty, she said.
As part of the ongoing project, newly planted trees will dot the road corridor. After a while, people will get used to those, Woodman said.
The contractor has until October 2008 to replant the trees, Lupien said. The contractor knows the cost of the trees now, so it would be in his advantage to plant some this year, but only if they won't interfere with the work that still needs to get done, he added.
Both city officials and volunteer forester Walt Aikman have received phone calls from people concerned about the 100-year-old trees crews have removed from that area.
Besides educating them that the silver maples needed to come down, they assure concerned residents the city will replant along East Genesee.
The original plans detailed crews replacing 70 trees. With the discovery of more diseased and rotten trees during the project, Lupien estimated they will replant closer to 100.
“We will replace two for every one we took down,” he said.
Soon, people will see a variety of saplings along the street, such as October Red Maples, Legacy Sugar Maples, Summit Green Ash, Shademaster Honey Locus, Sweet Gums, Harvest Gold Crabapples, Red Oaks and Little League Greenspires.
Workers followed the same process they did for the West Genesee project a few years ago, and a project on South Street, although they didn't have to remove as many trees for those undertakings.
On East Genesee, crews have removed mostly silver maples from the yards along the torn up road. For awhile, urban planners loved the native species because they grow rapidly and survive droughts. However, they are notorious for turning into safety hazards and cities no longer plant them in neighborhoods, said Aikman, with Grow Auburn's Trees.
“In fact, silver maples grow very tall but they are weak wooded and they are messy as they get as larger, as they are very hazardous. We still have quite a few in Auburn,” he said.
Most of the downed timber were losing limbs and beyond their life expectancies.
“I want you to imagine trees 100 feet tall with tons of branches that will snap off in heavy snow fall and heavy winds,” Aikman said.
The region has about two severe storms each decade. During the Labor Day storm in 1998, the city lost dozens of trees and it was a miracle that no one was injured, Aikman said.
The original engineers who drafted the project's plan surveyed the trees for those that must go. They removed ones showing signs of disease, losing limbs, with rotten cores, or were splitting because they were struck by lightening, Lupien said.
Also, workers pruning branches marked additional trees for removal when they saw large holes in the trunk.
They removed a couple trees because their placement conflicted with the utilities, for example a sanitary sewer. However, a good majority left because it was their time, Lupien said.
“We don't take down any tree for no reason,” he added.
Workers should remove a quarter of the city's estimated 8,000 trees because they have grown too tall and may show signs of disease, Aikman said.
Many residents comment on the fact that the trees are roughly 100 years old, when their parents and grandparents walked the streets, but Aikman reminds people that particular species is only expected to thrive for a century. The weak trees especially can pose danger in the residential areas that borders the well-traveled corridor.
“People know that it's creating a dramatic effect and they don't like what they see. ... I don't like what I see,” Aikman said.
But it's necessary and the street renovation project creates an opportunity to removes the plants on a massive scale, he said.
“I don't want to see the trees (removed), but it's part of the management of the urban forest,” Aikman said.
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
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RAP wrote on Jul 28, 2007 3:09 PM: