Burr Ridge Tree Removal Upsets Resident

BURR RIDGE, IL – Many of the trees along Garfield Street between 79th and 81st streets in Burr Ridge were removed this week. At least one resident expressed unhappiness with it.

On Friday, Burr Ridge's public works director, David Preissig, confirmed a contractor for ComEd took down the trees.

The village plans to plant new trees in the parkway this spring, at nearly double the previous number, Preissig said in an email.

He said the trees on Garfield were becoming unsightly and unhealthy, with several ash trees impacted by the emerald ash borer.

"(T)he Village coordinated with ComEd and its contractor to remove the trees this year and avoid further annual expenses to trim these ailing trees," Preissig said.

The new trees, he said, would be more appropriate for planting beneath power lines.

Resident Betsy Levy was upset the trees are gone.

"What's done is done," she said in an email. "Replant that parkway and don't let this consequential action ever happen again."

On the Nextdoor app, Levy wrote about the removal of the trees.

"Each spring, those gorgeous trees have grown and matured, finally providing a canopy of shade and beauty over that two-block stretch of road," Levy said. "And now? Nothing. The area is bare, empty, blighted."