Garneau neighbourhood renewal costing some of city's oldest trees

Garneau to lose trees with renewal work The Garneau neighbourhood is getting a facelift as part of the city's neighbourhood renewal program, but not without a cost.

EDMONTON — The Garneau neighbourhood is losing some of its most mature trees under a neighbourhood renewal project, which one resident says is a “terrible loss” for her community and the city.

“That’s why we live in these older neighbourhoods: the beautiful canopy that [the trees] provide,” Petra Schulz told CTV News Edmonton.

She was walking her dog earlier in the week when she noticed a tree removal company pull into her neighbourhood, near 76 Avenue and 110 Street.

To make room for a protected bike lane, the street is being converted into a one-way road, explained Ryan Olson, the director of Edmonton’s neighbourhoods planning and design department.

He said 110 Street was selected for a bike lane even before Garneau’s upgrades under the Neighbourhood Renewal Program moved into the planning stage in November 2019.

“We’re always going into communities wanting to do a design that is really for everyone, for people who drive cars, for those who aren’t able to drive cars, for those who wheel. We want to do a design that is inclusive,” he said.

Two years ago, residents were concerned the bike lane would come at the cost of badly needed parking, so the city added parking bays along the street. Several mature trees were removed to make room.

“We try to pick the location that’s going to have the least impact so ideally we can find locations where there aren’t trees at all or maybe smaller trees,” Olson said. “Sometimes there’s older trees that are diseased trees or maybe a tree that’s in decline.”

But Petra says, “To take down trees that are mature and healthy and that really make this neighbourhood is tragic.”

Just under 60 trees will be removed from various parts of the neighbourhood. A total of 137 trees will be planted.

Olson said the new trees will be planted as close as possible to where old trees were removed.

Most of the work in Garneau under the Neighbourhood Renewal Program is expected to be finished in 2022.

With a report from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson