About 175 trees are expected to be ripped out along Crenshaw Boulevard, between Exposition and Sixty-Seventh Street, to make way for construction on Metro's Crenshaw/LAX Line, and the number could go up as the contractors make design changes. (That's about a third of the total trees along the corridor.) Residents can't believe they're losing trees in the triple digits, especially because the area is still *short from the space shuttle Endeavour's trip to the California Science Center two years ago. One Leimert Park resident tells the LA Times: "The wonderful thing about this particular area of L.A. is that it had a lushness … but it lost its mystique and is sterile."
The CSC promised to replant the trees it removed along Crenshaw at a four-to-one ratio, but only 10 trees have actually been replanted; the rest are in spots that have to stay treeless for the Metro construction. (A total of 400 trees in South LA, Westchester, and Inglewood were chopped; meanwhile, Miracle Milers are grousing about 100 and saying they don't want even one taken down.) The reforestation delay has made residents wary of cutting down even more trees. Update 4/9: A rep for the California Science Center says they've actually planted 960 trees along the Endeavour route, all between 10 and 14 feet. They're waiting for city approval on the locations for 70 more trees in Westchester.
City officials agree that the Crenshaw corridor might be "unsightly" during construction on the rail line, but that, once the dust clears, it'll look even better. They've also said they'll replace the trees two-to-one, maybe even as soon as 2017, when the first two phases of the line are finished. That's right, it might only be five years total these residents have to wait for the greenery they were promised in their neighborhoods.
· Tree removal along Crenshaw has residents stumped [LAT]
· Big Tree Concessions Made For Space Shuttle Endeavour's Trip [Curbed LA]
· Miracle Milers Don't Want Any Trees Uprooted for Purple Line [Curbed LA]
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