Additional information

During a project’s design, staff from the City of London’s engineering and forestry divisions, walk the street to evaluate each property, determine the current health of the trees, and determine how to best install services while minimizing impacts to trees and structures. 

Removal of trees is never our first choice, and we strive to reduce tree impacts as much as possible while balancing the need for safe and reliable infrastructure in our city.

After the arborist’s review is complete, any trees identified as impacted by construction or in poor health are removed before construction starts. There are many reasons why a tree may need to come down:

• The tree may already be in poor health;
• The infrastructure being added may disrupt the feeder root system in ways that aren’t necessarily apparent when looking at the tree above ground – sometimes the removal of curbs can be enough to disrupt the root zone and make it unsafe going forward.

After careful assessment, it was determined that a total of 35 trees within the City right of way will need to be removed to accommodate the sidewalk. Many of these trees are located under hydro lines, have been over-pruned, and are in poor health. In other cases, tree roots that extend from the trees are expected to be impacted by the construction and require the tree to be removed. 

The tree locations are listed below.  

Timing of advance tree removals could be as early as this month. These trees will be marked with white spray paint in advance of their removal.

A tree protection plan has been established for the remaining trees and tree replanting will occur after construction, with the goal of planting the right tree in the right location. Property owners will be consulted prior to tree replanting.

The first three months of each year is a period when most tree removals across the city are completed, and that’s because we are working to complete this pre-construction work ahead of the migratory bird nesting period, which starts on April 1^st.  In cases where tree removals continue later into the spring, bird experts are also then engaged before any removals take place.