Tree Group Concerned About Proposed Removal of 9 Trees on Mt. Auburn Street

The following announcement was provided by Trees for Watertown:

TREE HEARING this Wednesday for Nine Shade Trees MassDOT Wants to Remove

The Mass. Department of Transportation (MassDOT) wants to cut down nine shade trees
along Mount Auburn Street in order to make way for roadway modifications. This was unexpected by those of us who believed MassDOT’s assurances months ago that destruction of shade trees as part of the Mount Auburn Street Project would be minimal.

If this destruction concerns you, the Public Shade Tree Removal Hearing for these trees is on Zoom at 10 a.m. this Wednesday, May 14. Download the Tree Hearing notice for a description of each the nine trees with their street address. Here’s the Zoom link for the Hearing.

Most of these trees are tall, healthy Honeylocusts. One is a beautiful smaller Honeylocust in front of Deluxe Town Diner. One is a beautiful little Kwanzan Cherry in front of Green Peapod. Big shade trees are indispensable green infrastructure that takes years to replace. Well-established urban trees like these provide essential shade, cooling, beauty, protection from storms, and wildlife habitat. The removal of these would be a profound loss to Watertown, including to birds raising nestlings in them right now.

If you attended Dr. William Moomaw’s excellent presentation last November on the critical environmental importance of preserving big urban trees, you’ll remember his charts showing how many dozens of small new street trees it takes to provide the carbon storage and air- conditioning benefit that a single big, long-established tree provides.

MassDOT designers should be doing everything in their power to preserve the healthy public
shade trees along Mount Auburn Street, not treat them like disposable street furniture.

There is some good news. MassDOT’s roadway designs are not set in stone. Public Shade Tree Removal Hearings are a way for the public to influence the fate of public trees.

Tree Warden Mike Micieli has been able to persuade MassDOT to make design modifications that saved a few trees, and citizens who use Wednesday’s Hearing to challenge MassDOT’s dismissive “Can’t do it” about these nine trees may be able to save a few more.

So please, if there are trees on this list that you know and love, send Mike Micieli <mmicieli@watertown-ma.gov> an email before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, to speak up for saving them.

Please also plan to speak up at Wednesday’s 10 am Tree Hearing on Zoom if you can. Here again is the link to the Tree Hearing Notice, with the tree list and Zoom link.

Thank you for supporting Watertown’s urban forest!

Libby Shaw, President
Trees for Watertown
trees4watertown@gmaivl.com