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The village did so because the trees’ roots were overgrown and had been lifting up the sidewalk and street, causing a hazard for pedestrians. The plan is to replace these Dynasty Lace Bark Elm trees with less aggressive ones and plant them in a type of soil that allows roots to grow without pushing up on the sidewalk panels.
“It’s our goal and hope and expectation that the Cornell Structural Soil will be sufficient to greatly prolong the life of the tree and the time that we’re looking at when the sidewalks might be pushed up again,” Village Manager Richard Slingerland said.
Now that the trees have been removed, the roots will be removed, to be followed by the sidewalks and curbs in the spots of the removed trees. An eight-foot radius of sidewalk will be demolished and then reinstalled. Slingerland said the village will go out to bid on the construction by early September and expects to have it complete before Nov. 1.
Then the new trees will be planted by the end of the regular planting season.
The Village of Larchmont has encountered the same problem with tree roots pushing up sidewalk panels in recent years and has planned a full streetscape of a large portion of Palmer Avenue. However, the $1.6 million project has yet to get a shovel in the ground due to several issues.
The streetscape would use the Cornell Structural soil to address the uprooting problem.
“This is being used by many municiaplities,” Larchmont Mayor Anne McAndrews said.
The project will also improve street lighting using cobra lights.
“The pedestrian lighting was very poor,” McAndrews said. “We want to make it a more attractive area to walk. We’d love to see more evening activities on Palmer Avenue. Other areas of the village have had significantly increased evening dining. So we want to present a canvas so a business can come in and be successful. We think we can make this really a very attractive area.”
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