Commission Continues Removing Trees From Mast Road

DEXTER, MI -- The Washtenaw County Road Commission will remove over a hundred trees lining Mast Road near Dexter. Despite residents’ complaints, and the formation of Save the Dexter Trees, a 300-person Facebook group, the road commission insists the tress must come down for safety reasons. A spokesman for the commission told mLive that the tree removals will be completed by the end of March.

"The weather has slowed us up a bit," Emily Kizer told mLive. "We are on track to finish all tree removals by the end of March, as is required by the state to protect two species of bat."

While the road commission insists the removals are necessary to insure safety after many traffic accidents along that stretch of Mast Rd, residents argue the commission included the trees to make an application for federal safety grant funds stronger. Tree removal along Mast and North Territorial roads will cost about$950,000, with 90 percent of the cost covered by the federal grant, according to mLive.

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Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images.