Tree Removal Required in Haddonfield Due To Road Repairs, Disease

HADDONFIELD — The Borough of Haddonfield is currently pulverizing, stabilizing and overlaying its roads – a process that, combined with the spread of disease, requires that the town remove some of its trees.

"Roads are identified for repair annually and built into the plan/budget," said Frank Troy, Haddonfield commissioner of public works, parks and public buildings. "Trees are coming down at a rate of about 150-200 per year – due to disease, repaving, storms, etc – and are replaced at a rate of about 80 per year – which is how many trees can be watered per day."

About 40 percent of removals stem from phone calls received or messages sent through the town's website, Troy said, while about 60 percent are determined from notes the town's Certified Tree Specialist takes while driving around town each day.

The process begins when a landscape architect reviews the trees along the roads that are being refurbished, Troy said in a Facebook post. Then, a member of the Shade Tree Commission, the Borough's Certified Tree Specialist, and an engineer will walk the roads to review the list of trees designated for removal.

The streets that are being repaired this year are Mt. Vernon, Redman, Oak, Lee, Peyton, Lake, Queensboro, Wayne, and Longwood, Troy said, and the criteria for tree removal is:

• The roots have pushed a curb out (excavating 18" for the curb kills the roots of the tree when the roots have grown into the place where the curb belongs)
• The roots have grown into a street (excavating the roadway for construction would kill the roots of the tree)
• Red Oaks and Pin Oaks are removed if they are 50 percent impacted by disease
• Ash Trees are removed due to the infestation of the deadly Emerald Ash Borer

Troy said two lists were created for this year's road program – one list of definite removals, and one list of trees that might need to be removed, but required further evaluation.

After a contractor is hired, a second walk-through is conducted to see if any trees on the list can be saved. Troy wrote that about 70 percent of the trees on the "maybe" list were saved this year.

The town is exploring increasing its tree plantings in 2022, Troy said, with an emphasis on replacing trees with those that are not vulnerable to known diseases and those that have shorter statures that won't disturb power lines.

Troy said he will post an update next month that will further detail the diseases impacting trees in Haddonfield, and will provide a post in the fall about tree replacement, as that's when the plantings will take place.

"The Borough and Shade Tree Commission views our trees as a beautiful asset to our town and make all attempts to keep healthy trees alive and part of our community for years to come," Troy said.