SaltWire E-Edition

Trees vs. bike lanes battle brewing

Removing them for a bike lane will not make city greener: resident

STUART PEDDLE THE CHRONICLE HERALD speddle@herald.ca @Guylafur

A community group is looking to head off a possible plan to cut down trees to facilitate the installation of bike lanes in a historic section of Halifax.

Lara Cusson, of Friends of Schmidtville, said a bike lane plan for peninsula south means trees are at risk on Morris Street as well as other routes in the area.

Cusson is a resident of the historic neighbourhood in Halifax that was established in 1834 as the first subdivision outside Halifax's original fortified walls.

There are houses in the area that are 200 years old, Cusson said.

“The city has spent a lot time and effort making sure it is a heritage conservation district, so to think that the mature trees are at risk in one of these neighbourhoods they worked so hard to preserve is ... hard to imagine.”

Community stakeholders, including Friends of Schmidtville, first heard that trees were at risk during an online meeting of the peninsula south complete streets advisory committee last fall.

Cusson said participants were asked to keep the fact that up to 48 trees were to be removed a secret.

“So that was sort of the first red flag,” she said.

The group will hold a news conference on Tuesday at noon in front of Saint Mary's Elementary School on Morris Street and plan to place banners on the trees to let the public know about the plan.

“We actually put together an alternative — a very viable alternative proposal, which would ensure that not a single tree comes down in our community, and the city is not interested in this proposal because they're really interested in having the most perfect bike lane, but at what cost? At what expense?

“The trees provide more ecological value on a city street than on any other location and how do they justify that loss? I'm not sure.”

Representatives of HRM were not able to provide comment before press time.

Cusson said the group really just wants assurances that the trees will not come down.

“The public price for this design is just way too high. Why not just put one directional bike lane on Morris and another one down South along the cemetery where there's not a single tree?

That's a very viable option.”

Cusson wondered if the city councillors might not be aware of the full plan yet as they “have so much on their plates.”

“It could be that they haven't been to other cities and seen how all of these things can co-exist: the mature trees, the bike lanes and the street. They co-exist in other cities very, very well.”

She said the group has not been able to get any more information from city planners.

“They keep proposing to make the city greener. You can't do that by removing the trees.”

Friends of Schmidtville have surveyed cyclists, Cusson said, and none of them ever said the trees should come down.

“I know there's a way for all of us to co-exist. Every other city in the world does it. Let's get the bike lanes in, but let's not take a tree down.

“We want to hear the city planners and the city staffers to say, 'This is absurd and it's not going to happen.' That's the response we're looking for out of this.”

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2021-10-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281547999099752

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