Long post alert… My Position
Long post alert… My Position on the DeCastro Street Debacle I have spent the past few days doing some research—not only on the proposed DeCastro Street improvements, but on trees, mature trees in particular, their root systems, the challenges associated with transplanting established trees, and the arguments being made on both sides of this issue. 🥰 And my position is multifaceted. First, gove...
Long post alert… My Position on the DeCastro Street Debacle I have spent the past few days doing some research—not only on the proposed DeCastro Street improvements, but on trees, mature trees in particular, their root systems, the challenges associated with transplanting established trees, and the arguments being made on both sides of this issue. 🥰 And my position is multifaceted.
First, government needs to find better and more meaningful ways to communicate with the public. Calling meetings ad hoc and expecting people to rearrange their lives at the last minute has never been an effective way to engage the public. And as life becomes more challenging and complex for the average resident, government has to become more respectful of people’s time.
People deserve adequate notice, clear information and an opportunity to understand what is being proposed—especially when a project involves public money and changes to a part of Road Town that people have known for decades. But secondly, we cannot constantly complain to government about problems and then complain when government tries to fix those problems because it isn’t being fixed exactly the way we think it should be fixed.
For years, we have called for a safer, more accessible, more attractive and more traversable Road Town. And now we are finally moving toward doing something about a problem that has existed for years. So at some point, we have to ask ourselves: When do we actually move from talking about transforming Road Town to transforming Road Town?
I don’t particularly like the idea of seeing mature trees removed either. Those trees have become part of the character of DeCastro Street. They provide shade, greenery and a sense of place that concrete alone cannot provide. But we also have to separate our emotional attachment to the trees from the technical question of whether they are compatible with the infrastructure we are trying to build.
The RDA has said that the existing Mahogany, White Cedar and Yellow Poui trees have established root systems extending beneath the existing sidewalks and parking areas. Those roots have already contributed to lifting and displacing sections of pavement, creating uneven surfaces and accessibility problems.
The agency says that because the sidewalks have to be demolished and excavated, the existing root systems would inevitably be damaged. Someone recently suggested that the trees must be mature because their roots are appearing above the ground. Surface or exposed roots can occur for a number of reasons—including shallow soil, compacted soil, erosion, a tree’s natural root structure, and the continued expansion of a tree’s root system as it grows.
And even when a tree is mature, mature does not mean that the tree’s roots have stopped growing. So the question shouldn’t simply be: “Can we save these trees today?” The bigger question should be: “Can we save these trees AND build infrastructure that will remain safe, accessible and functional for decades?” Because if we preserve the trees today but have to repeatedly tear up and replace sidewalks and infrastructure because the root systems continue to interfere with them, have we actually solved the problem?
That is the conversation I think we should be having. The RDA says the replacement trees are being selected specifically because they are better suited to the Wickham’s Cay environment and have less aggressive root systems. The stated intention is to establish a new, healthier treeline that can provide shade and beauty without compromising the new six-foot, ADA-compliant sidewalks.
If that is indeed the plan, then I think government should be held accountable for delivering exactly that. Don’t give us tiny ornamental plants that look good for two years and then disappear. Give Road Town a beautiful, sustainable tree canopy. Give us sidewalks that elderly people can walk on safely.
Give parents enough room to push a stroller. Give wheelchair users and people with mobility challenges a genuinely accessible route. Give businesses a streetscape that makes people want to walk through the capital. Give visitors a Road Town that looks like a capital city. Could government have communicated this better?
Could the public have been given the technical assessments behind the decision? In fact, I believe government should make as much of that information available as possible. If there are engineering or arboricultural assessments demonstrating why preserving the existing trees is incompatible with the proposed works, let the public see them.
Primary source: The Anegada Community Board (Facebook)