For the last couple of months, living on the 2100 block of Kater Street has straight-up sucked. While performing the necessary task of replacing the water and sewer lines on the block, the Water Department has completely torn up the street. It's totally impassible by car, tough to traverse by foot, and neighbors have surely been dealing with noise and service disruption during the construction. And to add insult to injury, ten trees were unexpectedly cut down last week. 

In the past

Similar view shows trees are gone

In case you're wondering, these weren't exactly saplings.

A sizable stump

We heard from several neighbors on the block, distraught that their trees were cut down without any warning. So we reached out to a contact at the Water Department, who provided some news on the subject, along with an explanation. Apparently, an arborist with Parks and Recreation made the determination that the long-term health of several trees on the block would be severely jeopardized by the sewer and water replacement. With damaged root systems, the trees had to come down. In a few days, the stumps will be removed, and another arborist will be working with residents to select new trees to plant on the block during planting season. Hopefully, the work will be finished in time for a fall planting.

While we're pleased to learn that PWD and Parks and Rec will be working to replace the lost trees, we're left to wonder whether this problem will recur as additional sewer and water lines are replaced around town. And though trees will be reappearing on this block in the future, we really feel sorry for the neighbors on Kater Street. Their summers just got a little bit more miserable.