The trees of varying sizes and other vegetation recently started coming down on Fourth Line between No. 10 and No. 15 sideroads in an estimated 15-foot swath on either side of the road. The move comes as part of a town council-approved project to upgrade the gravel section of road to one that has a tar and chip surface treatment.

Ward 3 Councillor Jan Mowbray said she has heard from many citi- in the area who are extremely upset about the removals.

“It’s quite a huge change for them,” she said.

One of those Fourth Line residents is Pino Porciello, who questioned why so much “tree destruction” is occurring for a road project that he feels will benefit few people, referring to the small number of households in the area.

“The natural beauty and the character of the area is being destroyed for very marginal benefits,” he said.

According to the Town’s Engineering Services Director Paul Cripps, the road is used by about 200 to 300 vehicles per day. He said the removals are necessary because in many areas, the trees and vegetation have grown up to the edges of the road, causing sight line problems for drivers.

He also said having trees so close to the road could pose an additional hazard to motorists if their car were to go off the road. If there’s no buffer zone along the shoulders, they’re more likely to hit a tree, he said.

But Porciello has a different safety concern. While the posted speed limit on the road will be 60 km/h, he expects that the upgraded quality of the new road will lead to more speeding.

“Considering several families along the road have young children, the increased speeding that will surely occur has the potential (to cause) a much more serious accident,” he said.

Cripps said he wouldn’t be surprised if drivers’ operating speeds go up.

“When you take a country road and rebuild it, drivers feel more comfortable driving at higher speeds,” he said. “The only way to control it is police enforcement.”

He noted that while the road was originally going to be designed for 80 km/h speeds, the Town ended up reducing the design speed to 60 km/h.

He also said that the pavement and shoulder widths were reduced for the project to minimize the impact to the area and lower costs.

The original cost estimate for the project was $2.2 million. That number is now down to $1.5 million.

For fellow Fourth Line resident Bryan Simpson, the tree removal raises privacy concerns.

“The trees help to shield our property and give us privacy,” he said. “With the trees going, there is going to be a privacy issue.”

Mowbray said part of the issue stems from a lack of rural road maintenance.

“If we maintained them, it (the trees) wouldn’t have been growing there in the first place,” she said.

Cripps concurred the area could’ve received a higher level of maintenance service in the past, but said he thinks the trees would’ve still been impacted by the reconstruction project, given how narrow the road currently is.

Porciello said he thinks the Town should scale the project back to make it more in line with the current character of the area and protect the trees that haven’t yet been taken down.

But Cripps said the work has already been scaled back and can’t be reduced anymore.

A portion of the area falls under the jurisdiction of the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC). Cripps said the Town has been in touch with the NEC regarding the project and has also been working with Conservation Halton on the culverts that are being replaced.

He said the project will continue throughout the fall, with the tar and chip surface being applied late next spring.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com .