Members of a Surrey environmental group are seething after the city cut down dozens of trees next to Green Timbers Urban Forest as it prepares to widen 100th Avenue.
"It was shocking. Like, absolutely gut-wrenching. I think it's appalling what they've chosen to do for reasons that I think are entirely speculative,” said Deanna Welters of the Green Timbers Heritage Society.
City staff say as Surrey continues to grow widening the road is necessary, but they want to reduce the environmental impact. That’s why they are not cutting down all 400 trees in the corridor alongside the road.
"We will be impacting 75 of those trees. Trees that must be removed to make way for the construction,” said Rob Costanzo, the city’s manager of engineering operations. “But with every tree that we remove we will be replanting within that corridor."
According to the city, the trees cut down are not actually in Green Timbers Urban Forest but on a right-of-way alongside it that has been set aside for the expansion of the road.
"It's supposed to be a forest but it is being carved up so what's going to be left of it if this continues?" asked Welters, who has worked for years to protect the forest.
A planned light rail link between Surrey and Langley runs down Fraser Highway and could also cut right through Green Timbers Urban Forest.
"There's a lot of traffic that moves through the city, particularly through this area,” said Costanzo. “So we're ensuring that we meet the capacity demands of the future, once those light rail transit corridors are in place."
The new four lane 100th Avenue opens in Spring 2018 and with LRT coming sometime after that the future promises more encroachment on the urban oasis.
