Re: 鈥淩emove tree for bikes, crosswalk? Group wants it saved,鈥� Jan. 24.
Woe betide the tree that inconveniences an engineer. The usual vague justifications and platitudes will be muttered, but the seemingly inevitable outcome is: 鈥淕oodbye, tree.鈥� As in the case of the aspen at the intersection of Humboldt and Government streets.
The real reason the tree has to go is that someone wants it to go. Perhaps it鈥檚 time we started wanting them to stay.
This isn鈥檛 just any tree. It鈥檚 a healthy, mature tree that was planted in that location for a reason. It has been a prominent and attractive feature of the streetscape for more years than those who want it gone have been alive. Shouldn鈥檛 we value it over a crosswalk or bike lane? Let the pedestrians and cyclists go around the tree. It was there first.
Frederick Shand
Victoria
