2016 was a rough year for trees along Delaware Avenue. The drought-like weather conditions wreaked havoc on many trees throughout the city, and the city’s ash trees were hit by the Emerald Ash Borer scourge*. By mid to late summer, numerous trees on Delaware stood dead or dying, creating a scene right out of a Tim Burton movie.
Today, all of the dead trees are in the process of being removed. I spotted twenty that had already been lopped off, between W. Utica and Canisius High School, and the tree cutting crew was still hard at work. Adding to the severity of the situation, they had only begun to tackle the east side of the street – work on the west side had not even begun. Plus, there were even more dead trees waiting in line for lopping on the East Side, further towards Gates Circle.
I remember heading down Delaware Avenue last summer, thinking to myself how awful the drought had been, and how many of the trees were already dead or dying. I’m happy to see that work is underway to get these trees removed, and hopefully replanted in the near future. There are a lot of places in Buffalo that needs trees, but Delaware Avenue is one of the most important tree-lined streets in the city.
*Thanks to BRO reader Jane G. who pointed out that the Emerald Ash Borer was the cause of many of the dead ash trees on Delaware Avenue