Tree count will increase after DeCastro Street upgrade — RDA
The Recovery & Development Agency (RDA) has promised that DeCastro Street will have more trees and greenery after its planned upgrade, as the agency continues to face backlash over the proposed removal of the corridor’s mature trees.
RDA Project Planning Manager Jeremy Hodge said approximately 17 trees currently line the street, but the redevelopment will see 20 new trees planted, along with shrubs and smaller trees.
“We will be replacing these trees with more trees than you’re seeing here now,” Hodge said during a recent interview about the controversial project.
He sought to reassure residents that the shade currently provided by the mature trees will not disappear permanently. According to Hodge, the replacement trees are expected to arrive at heights of 11 feet or taller, allowing them to provide shade relatively quickly.
The RDA said the species selected will also be better suited to the conditions along DeCastro Street, including the saline environment, while having less aggressive root systems.
The existing trees have become a major sticking point in the project, with residents questioning why they cannot be preserved as part of the redevelopment. The RDA previously said their roots have damaged sidewalks and created accessibility and safety concerns.
Hodge maintained that removing the trees was not a decision taken lightly.
“We did not just get up one day and decide these trees cannot remain,” he said, adding that efforts were made to determine whether they could be preserved.
He explained that DeCastro Street contains significant infrastructure, including water and sewerage lines, parking areas and roadways, leaving limited room for the existing trees’ root systems to spread without causing damage. The RDA said lessons from the existing landscaping are being incorporated into the upgrade, with greater attention being paid to selecting trees appropriate for the location.
The wider project is expected to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility while beautifying the busy Road Town corridor.
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“…while beautifying the busy Road Town corridor.”
My definition of the word “beautifying” is not creating beauty, but cleaning up the mess that was beautiful before we made a mess of it.
Ian Nairn highlighted the problem in his book OUTRAGE. That was 75 years ago, and in the meantime the roots of beautification have multiplied.
I don’t care about the trees, RDA don’t care about the trees, go find something more pressing to do. So much projects on pause yet they wanna start more, nothing’s wrong with the sidewalks
Trees and more trees. Honestly, this conversation has gone on long enough.
Instead of focusing so heavily on landscaping, why not address the ongoing stench in this area of town, the lack of consistency in our water supply, and the growing electrical demand that’s translating into higher costs for consumers?
These are the issues facing us every day. That’s why it’s hard to see these changes as true beautifIf we don’t address the deeper problems, it feels more like a distraction than an improvement.rovement.
Because, let’s be honest, dressing a pig in clean clothes doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a pig. You can improve the appearance, but if the underlying issues remain, nothing has really changed.
BVI people are just simpletons sometimes. Fake outrage for absolutely nothing. Sometimes I think many of them actually hate progress.
What progress? We have no consistent water, Purcell and Fleming street floods everytime there’s a little heavy downpour. This improves nobody’s lives
Hodge, where and who came up with these high figures to do this project?
976K is a lot of money, and there are lots of projects in the Islands that can utilize it.
Where is the breakdown? We want to support development, but there are lots of pieces missing.
Christmas is coming and every child is waiting,
Down by Bobby’s, we’ll be decorating.
Ho, Ho, Ho,
Ho, Ho, Ho,
WHERE THE TREES THAT WAS THERE?
900k? The project started at 700k. Told y’all they needed something to pocket
How can there be “approximately” 17 trees?
Because they don’t care about the trees this isn’t about sidewalks upgrades, it’s about raising your stock before the election. How does the government not have money to finish other projects but keep finding more money to start more projects?, especially on something so insignificant as deCastro streets sidewalks, this is nothing but a traffic inconvenience waiting to happen that wouldn’t be resolved until the middle of 2027
just make sure them planted back before christmas cause Elton lighted street is the only christmas spirit in the BVI
A mountain is being made out of a Mole Hill out of this simple tree project. Remove the trees that needs removing and replace them with trees that are not a threat to the environment(side walks). Remove the tree by the High school also, no replacement for that one. All this talk and blabb has became political because of where and who the project is coming from.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO GET A MAN TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING WHEN HIS SALARY DEPENDS UPON HIS NOT UNDERSTANDING IT.
Yuh deaf or something we don’t want no new trees leave our mahogany trees alone. Bring in those qualified that can complete the project without uprooting the trees.
What fools.
25 saplings are not 10 mature trees.
What ultaral environmental vandals would be cutting down fine mature examples of our Territorial tree.
This is lunacy.
But bèn clear for a long time our HOA run by a self serving set of idiotic, greedy lunatics.