TORONTO — Metrolinx is working with contractors and the City of Vaughan, Ont. to preserve trees while working on a transit project in the city.
EllisDon Infrastructure Transit, the contractor building the new Rutherford GO Station in Vaughan, arranged to move 16 trees away from the construction zone where they could have been damaged and into two parks in the City of Vaughan at the beginning of August.
The trees were located on the north side of Rutherford Road east of the GO rail corridor. EllisDon is preparing to start construction in the area on a grade separation, lowering Rutherford Road underneath the rail corridor.
“We completely understand that construction, especially on this scale, can have impacts on the community. We want to show the community that we’re good neighbours,” said Zafira Rehmtulla, project coordinator with EllisDon, on the Metrolinx blog. “We had an arborist go around and determine which trees could be protected and hoarded during construction, and others that had to be removed.”
EllisDon and Metrolinx made a deal with the City of Vaughan’s forestry department and EllisDon hired a specialized contractor to remove the trees with a heavy machine called a tree spade and replant them safely. Nine of the 16 trees were transplanted in Heritage Park on Valley Vista Drive in Maple, Ont. and seven were planted in Tudor Park on Jacob Keffer Parkway in Vaughan.
Hat’s off to the city of Vaughan, Metrolinx and EllisDon. Would be interesting to learn how many of the trees survived the transplanting.