Trees to Be Preserved in Westbrook Town Center

WESTBROOK - Those driving through town center have already noticed the construction equipment, police officers directing traffic, and the temporary lane closures of Westbrook Place and Essex Road.

Efforts are underway to improve the traffic configuration of the area to prepare for the new 14,800-square-foot Walgreens Pharmacy being built at the corner of Westbrook Place and Boston Post Road.

First Selectman Noel Bishop said all efforts are being done to ensure disruptions to traffic are minimal and that parking spaces around town center are accessible as much as possible.

The project will create four notched parking spaces in the town green on Westbrook Place which has caused residents to be concerned about nearby trees in town center.

Bishop said that the only trees planned to be removed are the sugar maple by the gazebo and the Norway maple along the center of Westbrook Place.

The sugar maple tree is dead and the Norway maple tree is seriously diseased, Bishop said, adding that both pose a safety hazard of falling down.

Bishop noted that the sugar maple tree is not related to the town center project since it is outside of the construction zone but it was determined now is the best time to remove the tree.

Nicholas Vallas, a Connecticut Licensed Arborist from The Care of Trees and Jim Kiely, a licensed arborist from SavATree in Old Saybrook, wrote letters to the Westbrook Public Works Department agreeing that the Norway maple is suffering from a deteriorating root system.

There are indications, Kiely wrote, that the tree has girdling root where the roots wrap around the base of the tree, slowly strangling it.

It is particularly problematic since the tree lost much of its canopy and is slowly dying, Kiely noted.

Vallas noted that the tree has "almost no chance of survival and should already be considered a high risk tree in its current condition."

Bishop admitted that a few years from now, removal of other trees on town center might be necessary depending on their condition.

In his letter, Kiely noted that the Norway maple at the corner of Westbrook Place and Route 153 also has a deteriorating root system.