Not Live Trees on Rachel

Howdy!

(I wrote an update about the trees on Rachel on June 26, click here)

Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana

Last year with some fanfare the city ripped up Rachel street and made a larger divider for the bike path (without really widening the bike path itself). They started in July and finished in October. One of the last things they did was to plant trees. Now I don’t know much (if anything about trees) but I can’t see how planting them just before it frosts over is a good idea.

Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana

So I figured I’d check them out yesterday. So far five of six seem to be alive. I started at the east end of the bike path and walked to Saint Urbain.

A closer look at the not quite blooming tree on Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
A closer look at the not quite blooming tree on Rachel in between Saint Andre and Mentana
Approaching Saint Hubert
Approaching Saint Hubert

Eight out of nine, alive. Does anyone know how much a tree costs? And what are the costs associated with transplanting one? If I remember correctly there were crews of three or four and some heavy machinery involved…

Looking back towards Saint Hubert
Looking back towards Saint Hubert

11/12 or almost 92%. Maybe the city actually knew what they were doing and I’m just complaining to hear myself and prove my existence.

Just before Berri
Just before Berri

10/12. 83%. Ooops.

Close up of not quite alive tree on Rachel just before Berri
Close up of not quite alive tree on Rachel just before Berri
Looking back along Rachel
Looking back along Rachel

11/13. 85%. Getting better (I think).

Looking back at two not so alive trees on Rachel after Berri
Looking back at two not so alive trees on Rachel after Berri

11/15. 73%. I’ll let you come up with your own comments…

Just before Rivard
Just before Rivard

11/17. 65%. Things aren’t looking good. The Google Street view was done in September and while you can clearly see the concrete and dirt, there ain’t no trees to be seen.

Artsy close up of a not alive tree on Rachel in between Berri and Rivard
Artsy close up of a not alive tree on Rachel in between Berri and Rivard
Rachel looking back toward Saint Denis
Rachel looking back toward Saint Denis

11/19. 58%. Hmmm…

Another not live tree on Rachel
Another not live tree on Rachel

11/20. 55%. You would have thought that after the fiasco that was the Place des Festivals, the city would have learned. But it doesn’t appear so.

Then if you notice there is no underbrush, grass, ground cover or anything green on the ground. Back in September when they redid the Google street view there was a lot of vegetation on the median. Now there is none. I wonder what exactly happened…

Another not live tree on Rachel
Another not live tree on Rachel

11/21. 52%. I wonder who is responsible for planting trees in the city of Montreal. My guess would be that the bureaucracy is dense enough that five different people can point multiple fingers at each other in order to deflect blame.

Yet another not live tree on Rachel
Yet another not live tree on Rachel

11/22. 50%. Your choice of the music from Jaws or the music from Psycho.

A not dead tree on Rachel corner Drolet
A not dead tree on Rachel corner Drolet

12/23. 52%

Another not live tree on Rachel
Another not live tree on Rachel

12/24. 50%. Your choice of the music from Jaws or the music from Psycho. Just louder.

Another not live tree on Rachel in between  Laval and Hotel de Ville
Another not live tree on Rachel in between Laval and Hotel de Ville

12/25. 48%. Words fail me.

Five not dead trees on Rachel
Five not dead trees on Rachel

17/30. 57%

Four not dead trees on Rachel
Four not dead trees on Rachel

21/34. 62%. I guess you could say that things are looking up.

Another not live tree on Rachel just before Saint Dominique
Another not live tree on Rachel just before Saint Dominique

21/35. 60%

Five not alive trees on Rachel in between Saint Laurent at Clark
Five not alive trees on Rachel in between Saint Laurent at Clark

21/40. 53%. This is where it gets kind of personal. As this is right in front of where I sit more mornings than not. The next time the city decides to plant trees in October, it probably would be better to do it in a place where there wasn’t free wifi or other people just hanging out.

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Artsy close up shots of not alive trees on Rachel.

A not dead tree at the corner of Clark and Rachel
A not dead tree at the corner of Clark and Rachel

22/41. 54%

Four non-dead trees on Rachel just before Saint Urbain
Four non-dead trees on Rachel just before Saint Urbain

26/45. 58%. The final tally. Not good, no matter how you look at it. Even if trees could be purchased and planted for $500/each, that’s almost $10,000 wasted by a borough that decided to save money by not clearing the snow on weekends. My guess is that we’d be talking more like $2,000 or more per tree, which means either they wasted almost $40,000 plus. Or the street is going to look like someplace in North Vietnam after the United States dumped a bunch of Agent Orange all over the place.

2 thoughts on “Not Live Trees on Rachel”

  1. Same phenomenon all along Laurier from St. Denis to St. Hubert and I watched them plant the trees during the frost.

    I’ll keep an eye to see if the ‘dead’ ones are really dead or just late bloomers.

  2. Dead trees?? I was down on Rachel yesterday, and I would be more concerned about dead cyclists…what I saw was scary….cars turning right while cyclists were going up and down without regard as to the motorists. In my short 10 minute experience, I saw a dangerous situation that resulted in a heated exchange between a motorist and a cyclist. I am not choosing sides here, but the city has put cyclists in danger here. It’s only a matter of time before someone is injured or killed here. They are a bunch of morons running City Hall, passing cash filled envelopes to pay for these “improvements”.
    Maybe I can put it this way. Our highways were built to accomodate cars – try to put horses and buggies on the highways in order to save the planet, and there will be people killed. There must be a better way – don’t let the municipal morons tell us what is best for us.

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