Tree removal begins on Deadstream Rd

Work has already begun on a controversial road project in Benzie County. /UpNorthLive photo

BENZIE COUNTY -- Work has already begun on a controversial road project in Benzie County.

Just a few days after the Benzie County Road Commission voted to move forward with the Deadstream Road project, crews and equipment were cutting some of the hundreds of trees marked for removal.

"Its a travesty," says John Lewis, a property owner on Deadstream Road for more than 30 years. "It really is. There is no need to cut these trees back as far as theyre cutting them back."

At a meeting last Thursday, road commissioners heard from several property owners about their concerns for the project which includes making the road a uniform width: 11 foot lanes, three foot paved shoulders, and two feet of gravel.

"We all understand that it needed to be resurfaced," says Sally Casey, a third generation property owner on Deadstream Road. "And we were even willing to accept, many people were willing to accept the widening of the three feet plus two feet. The killer was when they marked these trees and they said the state standards that we have to follow because we got money from the state means that we need to go seven to ten feet further back than that. And that has been the real killer for a lot of people."

One road commissioner said he hadnt received a single email from someone against the project.

He was then told the emails were sent, not to his personal email account, but one associated with the road commission.

Still, without reading them, he and the other commissioner present voted to award the almost 1.2 million dollar contract to Traverse City-based Team Elmers.

Opponents had talked about a lawsuit to stop the project, but Team Elmers began removing trees this week.

Read the original here:
Tree removal begins on Deadstream Rd