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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; More than 20 large oak trees that had grown along South Pennsylvania Boulevard for decades were quickly removed on Wednesday and Thursday &mdash; leaving Sam Troy of the Wilkes-Barre Shade Tree Commission indignant and disappointed.
				&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know this carnage was going to take place today, or yesterday,&rdquo; Troy said Thursday afternoon, explaining he had only recently learned the trees were on the chopping block to make way for the Luzerne County Transportation Authority&rsquo;s new operations center &mdash; and he had been trying to contact and appeal to LCTA and PennDOT officials, to see if there was any way the trees could be spared.
				His appeal likely wouldn&rsquo;t have saved any of the large old trees, Wilkes-Barre Director of Operations Butch Frati and city administrator Charles McCormick said on Thursday.
				&ldquo;They need two large stormwater rentention basins and they can&rsquo;t have existing tree roots there,&rdquo; McCormick said, showing Troy and reporters copies of the plan to develop the property, where the new LCTA building will encompass close to 200,000 square feet and employ an estimated 70 people.
				The project is under nearly complete control by PennDOT, Frati stressed, and is funded largely by federal money. While the LCTA has some input, he said PennDOT makes all the decisions on design and construction. He believes PennDOT&rsquo;s immediate plan is to put a perimeter fence where the trees had stood.
				Frati and McCormick pointed out the plan for the project, set to be completed in 2022, calls for planting a mix of 14 types of deciduous trees, including Eastern rosebud, Northern red oak and willow oak, as well as six different types of evergreens, plus various shrubs and grasses.
				There will be new greenery on the 11-acre site, though the new trees will need decades to match the size and carbon dioxide-absorbing capacity of the old trees.
				As leader of the Wilkes-Barre Shade Tree Commission, Troy said he would like to see a rule that any entity that removes established trees in the city should have to contribute to a fund that would finance the planting of new trees. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to push city council for that,&rdquo; he said.
				Troy also invites interested people to join the Shade Tree Commission, or to seek the commission&rsquo;s help in obtaining trees they would like to plant on their own property. They may reach him at 570-235-9280.
				&ldquo;They purify the air,&rdquo; Troy said of trees. &ldquo;They have so many benefits.&rdquo;
				Frati said the Diamond City Partnership has plans, unrelated to the LCTA Project, to plant new trees on West Northampton, North Main and other streets in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
				Back at the LCTA site, where Brdaric Construction recently demolished the former Murray Complex, a three-man crew efficiently took down about one dozen trees Thursday morning. Six others had been removed previously, and by mid afternoon the crew was taking down the last few still standing by the South Street Bridge.
				Once work began on a tree, it was down and cleared away in as little as three minutes. A clawed backhoe ripped down several branches if necessary, then pressed the side of the bucket against the upper tree. One worker then cut through the tree with a chain saw while another controlled traffic. When the tree was sufficiently cut through, the backhoe made sure it fell into the vacant lot, not on the roadway. The claw then grasped the tree and dragged it to a pile while the two men on the ground trimmed the remains to stumps a few inches high, yet in some cases, measuring close to 3 feet at the widest part.
				PennDOT Communications Director Ashley Schoch contradicted Frati&rsquo;s statements regarding control of the project. In an e-mailed statement, Schoch wrote that &ldquo;LCTA is responsible for all construction activities, including soliciting bids and hiring contractors. PennDOT is assisting with facilitating the design and construction management. Additionally, the tree removal was the decision of LCTA, and they hired the contractor. All questions related to the decisions to remove the trees should be directed to LCTA.

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Wilkes-Barre loses more than 20 old oak trees around LCTA project site