[nightstreak]

Can we get some confirmation before jumping to conclusion?

To what I was referring to, I personally got confirmation from Metrolinx that NO TREES will be replanted where they were cut for Osgoode Station. A Metrolinx engineer stated it black and white and then showed me on the blueprint that the station slab reaches just inches below the top soil, so it's impossible to plant trees where they cut a series of 200+ year old trees and where Ford and Metrolinx promised that 4X more trees would be planted there to replace them. So yes, they lied. This is not an isolated instance either. They've done this repeatedly to remove environmental blockages towards their goals. It's easy to transpose that to the Roselle tree given their demonstrated history of lying.

 

[GenerationW]

I don't recall David Miller stopping ongoing transit projects. No rapid transit was planned or funded when he took over from Mel Lastman, In fact, it was Miller who set the stage for the transit development we're witnessing today. Toronto got a seat at the table as a city and he got Transit City fully funded. Rob Ford then cancelled it all and was convinced to build the Eglinton Crosstown — but only if more of it were tunnelled resulting in a redesign and the delay we're still dealing with today. We would have had LRTs running across the city and on Finch West and Sheppard East, up Jane and Don Mills and around Scarborough to Malvern had Miller's funded plan actually continued on to construction. Much of it was shovel ready in 2010.

The McGuinty government stepping up with unprecedented multi-billions in transit funding set the stage. Otherwise Transit City would just be another forgotten plan, which it partly is anyway. No Miller successor has gone back to it or really even could once council corrected Transit City's fatal flaw by properly identifying the relief line as the city's main transit priority.

Was Rob Ford responsible for much of a delay? Eglinton groundbreaking was November 2011. And just because, this is my favourite Rob pic.

I didn't support his objections to subways but I understood why: it was the quickest way to catch up the entire city to our transit backlog with the available money. I still think a Jane LRT should be looked at or if subways subways subways is our motto, then even before the Ontario line enters service, the tunnel boring machines should be relocated into new shafts and continue tunnelling future lines north awaiting funding for stations and operations of a north/south line in the west end towards Eglinton and beyond to Finch and an east end tunnel up towards Sheppard.

All indications are an Ontario Line northern extension on Don Mills will be elevated. Jane rapid transit doesn't seem to be on the provincial government's radar, at least for now.

 

[reinventingthewheel]

I'm guessing that with the proximity to the street light and wires, it's probably Toronto Hydro rather than Metrolinx.

That would warrant pruning, certainly not a full removal. I love Roselle and I love walking/biking through this area, this is very disappointing news.

 

[DSCToronto]

That would warrant pruning, certainly not a full removal. I love Roselle and I love walking/biking through this area, this is very disappointing news.

Cutting tree of that size down require a City permit. I suggest you or Roselle should talk to Chris Moise's office to have them find out WHO cut the tree, why the tree was cut and whether a permit was issued. Councillor_Moise@toronto.ca

 

[TossYourJacket]

The money just seems to flow/follow/funnel? the Porsche dealership sites. What do they have planned for the Polson St site in the next 10 years. Coincidences?
Selling nice cars seems like a side business.

WaterfrontTO has talked about wanting a streetcar loop at Polson and Cherry before...

(Although in all seriousness, I believe the plan for that loop was on the East side of Cherry)

 

[reinventingthewheel]

From the councillor’s office:

The tree was removed by TTC as it was interfering with the feeder lines.

They did explore the possibility of pruning the tree, but Urban Forestry had assessed it to be in poor condition and the pruning would cause significant damage. The tree will be replaced.

 

[generalcanada]

Looking at that tree, the wires are litterally going right through it

 

[junctionist]

I don't recall David Miller stopping ongoing transit projects. No rapid transit was planned or funded when he took over from Mel Lastman, In fact, it was Miller who set the stage for the transit development we're witnessing today. Toronto got a seat at the table as a city and he got Transit City fully funded. Rob Ford then cancelled it all and was convinced to build the Eglinton Crosstown — but only if more of it were tunnelled resulting in a redesign and the delay we're still dealing with today. We would have had LRTs running across the city and on Finch West and Sheppard East, up Jane and Don Mills and around Scarborough to Malvern had Miller's funded plan actually continued on to construction. Much of it was shovel ready in 2010.

I didn't support his objections to subways but I understood why: it was the quickest way to catch up the entire city to our transit backlog with the available money. I still think a Jane LRT should be looked at or if subways subways subways is our motto, then even before the Ontario line enters service, the tunnel boring machines should be relocated into new shafts and continue tunnelling future lines north awaiting funding for stations and operations of a north/south line in the west end towards Eglinton and beyond to Finch and an east end tunnel up towards Sheppard.

We were already seeing the capacity issues back then at Bloor-Yonge, and there had been plans to build a new downtown line to relieve the Yonge portion of line 1 since the 1980s. But the project got put on the back burner again in the Miller years to focus on suburban LRT projects. We could have already been riding a new subway line downtown.

I didn't mean to say that David Miller didn't do anything for transit. Nothing could be further from the truth. From advocating for federal funding for the TTC to getting the province back into transit expansion, he was a great advocate for transit in general. But he focused on his pet projects in Transit City versus getting shovels into the ground on the previously relief line, despite the demand for it.

 

[nightstreak]

From the councillor’s office:
The tree was removed by TTC as it was interfering with the feeder lines.

So the tree got "too big". And we wonder why we can't have a mature tree canopy in this city. Cutting down beautiful mature trees is literal city policy.

 

[Mihairokov]

From the councillor’s office:

The tree was removed by TTC as it was interfering with the feeder lines.

They did explore the possibility of pruning the tree, but Urban Forestry had assessed it to be in poor condition and the pruning would cause significant damage. The tree will be replaced.

Hmm...I know this was two years ago but surely the pruning wouldn't have been that damaging to the tree..

 

[Parkdalian]

I love this site, but sometimes everyone goes into Zapruder-esque detail and conspiracy theories about a ... tree being cut down.

 

[evandyk]

You have to admit, it was pretty funny that the google streetview images of that stretch of street went black the moment we were all trying to find a picture of the tree.

 

[nightstreak]

You have to admit, it was pretty funny that the google streetview images of that stretch of street went black the moment we were all trying to find a picture of the tree.

The tree was cut because the botanist who planted it in 2007 had previously lived in Texas where he had an apartment on Elm Street in Dallas in the early 60s.

The Botanist as we shall call him forthwith, moved first to Arizona then California and kept on the move as the CIA nipped on his heels. He eventually made it across the northern border and settled in Vancouver where he met a nice girl, fell and love and they married. He returned to school having studied botany at UBC and the couple had a child, Roselle.

The young family lived a quiet life when one day a man in a dark suit, black tie and a crew cut knocked on their door. The Botanist knew his cover had been blown. He escaped out the back door and ran. He continued running until his legs would take him no further. He found an abandoned barn and settled in for the night. One night turned to two, then two weeks, then two years.

He had leveraged his botanical knowledge from UBC to grow Honey Locusts that he’d ship off to towns and in some cases big cities that particularly like that species hardened against urban stress. After a long day’s work one night, the Botanist packed his truck with his next order of honey locusts and went to the back to wash up. He saw a crew cut just over the bushes.

His truck became his home as he drove the Trans Canada west, eventually settling in Toronto. As he drove on King West one night, he spotted a nice family restaurant. Roselle, read the sign. He hit the breaks to a dead stop as a cyclist rammed face first into the back of his F-150 “Use your turn signal genius!” the Torontonian hollarded as he zigzagged away.

The Botanist went to the back of his truck, carried out a shovel, dug a hole and dropped in a young honey locust. He tended to that tree for years, watching it grow and getting to know the young couple who managed the restaurant. That is until the crew cut man showed up with a chain saw.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

You have to admit, it was pretty funny that the google streetview images of that stretch of street went black the moment we were all trying to find a picture of the tree.

That's how conspiracy theories get started!

So the tree got "too big". And we wonder why we can't have a mature tree canopy in this city. Cutting down beautiful mature trees is literal city policy.

To be fair it would appear that there isn't much of a choice in this instance. Perhaps our arborists should pick species with a canopy that is less likely to intrude on infrastructure along streetcar routes?

AoD

 

[shunya.tai]

Browsing my album just now, I believe this is the last picture of the tree just a day before it’s gone.