VIDEO: Trees Come Down on Plum Street

A walk down Plum Street North between St. Olaf and Greenvale avenues on Monday was a tale of two messages.

On one hand, several decades-old trees were cloaked in written pleas from residents asking for them to be saved. At the same time, chainsaws roared at one end of the block as the first trees were brought down to make way for a street reconstruction project.

Plum Street, along with Linden Street North and Second Street West, to replace the streets, which City Engineer Katy Gehler calls some of the worst in Northfield.

Councilor Erica Zweifel cast the lone dissenting vote in April over her objection to the project’s 2-foot widening of the streets, which she said would be too great a cost due to increased traffic speed and the loss of trees, affecting the intimate feel of the neighborhood.

Following up on complaints raised at a December hearing on the project, councilors approved the creation of a tree replacement fund for such projects.