Worcester Won't Remove Dozens Of Trees For Road Work: DPW&P

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester officials have scaled down a plan to remove dozens of trees across the city during upcoming road and sidewalk construction projects.

In June, officials held a hearing to discuss either removing or trimming about 90 trees across the city, including some clustered together in neighborhoods off Salisbury Street. But after outcry from the public, the Department of Public Works and Parks has pared down the number of trees to be culled.

Now, only 11 trees that were part of that June meeting will be removed, DPW&P Commissioner of Public Works and Parks Jay Fink said in a memo to City Council this week. The new plan would trim instead of remove 43 trees along Newton Avenue North, although the city may have to limit roadway reconstruction in that area.

DPW&P officials said that many of the trees targeted for removal were interfering with sidewalks, and may soon die.

"In many instances, the trees have become too large for their location, do not permit the construction of an adequate sidewalk, and are often times in declining or poor health," Fink said in the memo. "It is very common for these mature trees to have root systems that buckle and heave sidewalks and grow over nearby curbing."

Separate from the 90 trees identified for trimming or removal, Worcester has a list of 29 trees across the city that will be removed during upcoming construction because they are either dead or dying, Fink's memo said.

The 11 trees that will be removed during roadway construction are located at:

• 3 Bates Ave.
• 7 and 9 Elizabeth St.
• 15 Elizabeth St.
• 15 Knight St.
• 68 Moore Ave. 16
• 16 Northboro St.
• 24 Northboro St.
• 36 Northboro St.
• 110 Austin St.
• 12 Wabash Ave.
• 98 Ward St.

Worcester will plant two new trees for every tree that's removed, Fink said. In places where trees can't be planted along sidewalks, the city can plant new trees on adjacent private property with permission from the owner.