Neighbors save trees on Paulina Street in West Lakeview amid water main work, wonder why trees have to come down elsewhere
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Department of Water Management work can sometimes place trees on the chopping block – but one neighborhood succeeded in saving them.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Wednesday, a growing number of trees are coming down because of the water main work. But people who live in a section of West Lakeview fought to keep their trees intact despite the need to replace a decades-old water main – and they won.
Given that their trees could be saved, the West Lakeview neighbors want to know why the same can't happen throughout the city.
"I think this is how it should have been in the first place," said Ilya Soussa.
Chicago Water Management Department crews have been working around the majestic, decades-old trees along Paulina Street going south from Lincoln Avenue and Roscoe Street to Belmont Avenue – instead of initially moving to cut the trees down.
Soussa is one of many people who began a months-long fight to save the trees last year. She urged the city to find a way to install a new water main within Environmental Protection Agency regulations – without chopping them down.
It took letters, meetings, and the involvement of Ald. Matt Martin (47th) to get it done.
"I think we're all left sort of scratching our heads as to why we had to pull so many teeth to bring this about, and why it wasn't just the kind of innate response of the department - particularly given how much money the city's investing in protecting the urban canopy," said Rosemary Feit, who fought to save the Paulina Street trees.
It's a good question – especially considering our public records request found the city cut down 142 trees last year due to Water Department-related work. That is more than the number of trees it removed in the previous two years combined – there were 74 trees cut down for the same reason in 2020, and 45 in 2019.
"We're going to be putting together a playbook of what we did, in case it is helpful to other areas," Soussa said.
Kozlov spoke to Ald. Martin, who is hopeful the workaround implemented on Paulina Street can be used in other neighborhoods. A Water Department spokesperson said each job is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
As to whether the workaround cost taxpayers more, Martin said it didn't. But we were still waiting late Wednesday to confirm that with the city's Water Department.
