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Lake View neighbors fight to save 100-year-old trees
In a city with so much old infrastructure everybody wants improvements — but for some residents of West Lake View — those improvements are colliding with neighborhood treasures.
CHICAGO - In a city with so much old infrastructure, everybody wants improvements. But for some residents of Lakeview, those improvements are colliding with neighborhood treasures, which has sparked a grassroots effort to save the trees.
It's not clear exactly how many, but the City Department of Water confirms several trees are set to be removed due to the replacement of a more than 100-year-old water main installed in 1899.
The trees line Paulina Street between Roscoe and Belmont and sit right above the water main being replaced.
Workers from the water department were in the neighborhood Friday surveying the area again and taking measurements. They need to build a trench big enough to work in while also avoiding a major gas line and other pipes nearby.
But residents say there must be a better way, and have posted signs calling on neighbors to help in the fight to save the trees.
"I feel like they mean a lot to everybody in this neighborhood," said Jessica Knight. "I really hope that alternatives can be explored. It's just really important to preserve what nature we have in the city. It's so limited already I hope that they can find another way."
Ilya Soussa is one of the residents spearheading efforts and helped start the Facebook page, "West Lakeview Trees."
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"We just want to make sure that all alternatives are considered before these beautiful majestic trees that are such an asset to the neighborhood are taken down," said Soussa. "We understand we need to clean water for sure. We want to make sure that there is no issue with lead in the pipes. But we need to make sure there's a really conservative approach taken. Look at these trees. They're glorious. We know that the city has earmarked (millions of) dollars toward planting new trees in the city in order to eventually get this sort of canopy. So let's not destroy what we have now."
She's urging 47th Ward residents to contact Ald. Matt Martin and share their feelings about the trees.
Department of Water Management spokesperson Megan Vidis said the city is taking this decision very seriously.
"We respect their importance to our environmental health, home values and the beauty of our city. We are always looking for infrastructure maintenance and repair options to save trees," she said. "Some tree removal is necessary for this project due to their proximity to excavation."
Neighbors fighting to save the trees are running out of time with work scheduled to begin in mid-January.