23 palm trees to come down in College Park

Trees creating unsafe conditions along Edgewater Drive, city officials say

ORLANDO, Fla. – The ax is about to swing for several dozen trees along Edgewater Drive in the College Park area after many grew too big for the past 15 years. 

The city of Orlando recently released a public notice: 

The City of Orlando has recently performed a careful inventory of trees along Edgewater Drive. That inventory has led to the decision that a number trees could be unsafe due to declining health of the tree or interference with electrical wires. To ensure safety of visitors and businesses of the district, the City will be removing a total of 23 trees along Edgewater Drive as well as trimming a total of 26 trees.

Once trees are removed, the City will be pouring concrete into the existing tree wells to make the sidewalk surface even and safe.

"They are growing up into the power lines," said David Wagg, Orlando Parks assistant division manager. "A couple main risks, damage to the power lines during a storm or a hurricane and second, there's a potential the trees could be energized because they're in the power lines." 

Crews plan to begin work Saturday morning and work through the day, potentially causing some sidewalk closures and lane shifts. 

"We are constantly looking to plant trees, so we're looking for ways to plant trees particularly in the College Park area," Wagg said. 

Because of this issue, city leaders said they've learned from the past. 

"We've developed some standards over the past few years, the ways we plant trees, where we plant trees," Wagg said. "We have a system now, 'Right Tree, Right place.' The trees have to be compatible with other things in the city. We're trying to avoid conflicts down the road and we're trying to not plant headaches for the next guy in 20 years who's going to be doing this job." 


About the Author:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

Recommended Videos