Lexington officials are ramping up efforts to tackle issues with street trees. Additional city staff are helping to whittle down a backlog of concerns.
Low-hanging street tree limbs can hinder travel or block motorists’ views, hinder mail delivery, and inconvenience pedestrians.
Homeowners are required to keep the trees properly pruned, but city crews are also following up and addressing ongoing problems with limbs.
Environmental Services Director Susan Plueger says another issue is sidewalk upheaval from tree roots.
“The clearance for walking is a larger problem,” said Plueger. “The sidewalk issue, a lot of times, is in areas of older trees, very large trees that, over time, push up the sidewalk.”
When diseased street trees die, homeowners can choose to relocate new trees inside the sidewalk and not between the roadside curb and sidewalk. Plueger says that move can only occur when a street tree dies.?
