Paul Bass Photos
United Illuminating crew members started felling trees in Edgewood Park Monday — a day after nature started the job for them.
UI plans to remove approximately 35 trees, including 15 – 20 locust trees along Edgewood Avenue near the West River, in the park as part of a power upgrade. With two officers guiding traffic along Edgewood through the park, the operation began Monday.
The city, which considers the trees dead or dying, says the UI operation will save taxpayers $30,000, since the government won’t have to do the job. (Click here to read a story about UI’s plan and the neighborhood’s mixed reaction.)
Before UI’s arrival, the dead-tree removal got started on its own, as walkers along the park service road discovered. Near the park corner at Chapel and the Boulevard, a 50-foot pin oak tree (pictured) toppled during the weekend, on its own, blocking the path between the sundial and the duck pond.
It had rotted at the base.
Christy Hass said she plans to have workers clear away the trunk in the next day or two, along with a maple right in the park playground. “There’s enough dead wood — I don’t want to leave it there,” Hass said.