Dozens of downtown trees will be cut down in the coming days and weeks as the City of Orillia works to repair the brick sidewalks in the downtown core.
With work now underway, the city’s $150,000 sidewalk revitalization project puts 50 of the 118 downtown trees on the chopping block; the trees will be removed to allow for sidewalk repairs over the next six weeks.
After the trees are removed, stumping and grading will take place, followed by paver repair work.
Planted in the 1980s, some of the trees are near the end of their lives, while others have warped the sidewalk surface as their roots pressed against the walkway’s bricks, raising concern at city hall about unsafe walking conditions.
“It’s sad. I mean, I'd rather be able to keep the trees, but … there's several at the end of life,” said Mayor Don McIsaac on Monday morning. “It's time to clean them up, and that's for the safety of our citizenry.”
While there are no immediate plans to replant the trees, council previously approved $1.6 million for detailed design work on the Downtown Orillia Streetscape project during last year’s budget deliberations, which could bring significant reconstruction work to the city’s core, including new trees.
“They’ll be missing for some time because it'll take some time to figure out what to put back and where to put it back,” the mayor said. “Some communities have a thing where they've got plastic around the tree, and they dig a hole down two or three feet so the roots can have room to move. I think we can learn from that, but we'll replace them, for sure.”
One downtown business owner said that while “nobody wants to cut down trees,” the state of the downtown’s sidewalks have made it a necessary course of action.
“The sidewalk’s a mess, and unfortunately, you can't fix the sidewalk without fixing the initial problem, which is the trees,” said Anitta Hamming, owner of Creative Nomad Studios. “I also think it's a good interim solution to fixing the sidewalk until the actual Mississaga Street construction happens in a couple years.”
Beyond creating unsafe walking conditions, Hamming said the sidewalk’s uneven surface causes problems with snow removal, and issues with water pooling that allows water to seep its way into some downtown buildings.
“Having a flat, smooth sidewalk is actually really important,” she said. “When it rains, we have puddles — like, huge puddles. Sometimes we have water sit up against the building, and it runs in and down, so that creates issues for some of the owners in their basements.”
Deron Johnston, manager of the Downtown Orillia BIA, said he understands the necessity of the work — highlighting tripping hazards and dead trees — but mentioned he has heard from residents who are “not happy about the trees being removed at all.”
“Quite often, that comes from a place where they don't know why it's being done, right?” he said. “From what I've seen, when (we) respond and let them know about why, they seem to be OK with it.”
However, Johnston said he has heard from some downtown business owners who would have liked to see the work take place later in the year, outside the city’s tourism season.
“A lot of the businesses downtown aren't so happy about this, not necessarily just about the trees themselves, but the timing. They wish it could have been outside our busy tourism season,” he said.
“We understand the why, for sure, (and) I'd say for the most part the businesses do, too. They just wish it was later.”
With those concerns in mind, the city is doing everything it can “to minimize impacts to businesses, residents, and visitors within the downtown,” said Roger Young, the city’s general manager of environment and infrastructure services.
Young said the city has worked with the Downtown Orillia BIA to schedule work around special downtown events, like the upcoming Starry Night and Classic Car Show planned for this weekend.
As work is carried out, however, there will be some interruptions to the city’s transit service, Young said.
“When work occurs on Mississaga Street West, there will be impacts to the transit terminal location,” he said. “The Georgian and West Ridge via Old Barrie Road buses will be relocated and will be arriving and boarding on West Street. Notice will be provided when exact dates are determined.”
Moving forward, Young confirmed the city will incorporate new trees into the city’s planned downtown revitalization work.
“We are planning a comprehensive streetscape improvement project that will assess the best options for reintroducing greenery in a way that balances aesthetic appeal with environmental responsibility,” he said.
“The guiding principle for this project will be ‘the right trees, in the right applications, in the right locations.’”
