Golden Trumpet Trees interspersed with palms along Oxford Road

RELATED LINKS: Thousands of trees planted in Soweto PART of the City's initiative to green the south of Johannesburg in the next five years, 6000 trees were planted in Soweto on Arbor Day. Read more Hundreds of trees to be removed for Gautrain HUNDREDS of trees are to be uprooted from some of the city's leafy areas to make way for the construction of Gautrain. Read more Gautrain to dig deep hole in Sandton WITHIN a month Sandton residents will see the beginnings of a vast hole some 10 storeys deep being excavated in their suburb, as the construction of the Gautrain station gets off the ground. Read more Gauteng's bullet train gamble THE highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria is the busiest in the southern hemisphere, carrying 300 000 passengers each week day between the country's commercial heart and its administrative capital. Not surprisingly, it takes no more than one accident, or one bad rain storm, and traffic can be snarled up for two hours in either direction. Read more Gautrain Rapid Rail FIND out more about the train on the Gautrain web site

The Golden Trumpet Tree earmarked for removal, on the corner of Jellicoe Avenue and Oxford Road

First trees to be removed for Gautrain This week sees the removal and replanting of the first trees that have been identified as a problem for the construction of the Gautrain. September 5, 2006 By Lucille Davie THE first of the trees to make way for the Gautrain will be removed and replanted this week. A Golden Trumpet Tree or tabebuia chrysotricha, one of about 15 that were planted in Oxford Road around 30 years ago, will be removed and possibly replanted at Zoo Lake in Parkview. The 4-5m trees are coming into bloom now, covered in bright yellow blossoms. Mike Griffiths, senior manager of street trees with Johannesburg City Parks, says he hasn't yet decided where the tree is to be replanted, but as only one Golden Trumpet Tree is to be removed at this stage, he is considering putting it in the parklands surrounding Zoo Lake. Jacarandas in Jellicoe Avenue that will be removed "The move to replant the trees comes after permission was granted by the City of Johannesburg to fell trees along strategic intersections which must be upgraded for future traffic diversions," said Gautrain construction company Bombela. Griffiths is in favour of transplanting all the trees - up to 270 - that are to be removed for the Gautrain construction and temporary road detours, to Soweto, where a major tree-planting exercise is being undertaken. A total of 317 trees have been identified by Bombela as being a problem for road widening. Fifty of these will be pruned, and the rest will be removed. White stinkwoods, jacarandas, plane trees, palm trees and pin oaks along Bolton Road, and Sturdee and Jellicoe avenues have also been identified for removal. Trees are also to be removed from the concrete island in Katherine Avenue in Sandton this week "There is little traffic disturbance anticipated with the partial closure of one lane during off-peak hours. The tree-felling exercise will last for approximately three and half months in order to finalise all the areas earmarked for tree felling. Katherine Street will still carry traffic during this exercise," said the Gautrain office. Griffiths said that every year in September when the trees come into bloom he gets phone calls from members of the public enquiring about their origin. Although 30 years old, they are still not mature and could grow another metre, he says. Griffiths doesn't believe the other Golden Trumpet Trees will be removed. Gautrain officials have agreed with the City's stipulation that the trees be replaced with indigenous trees, which will then be maintained for a year after the planting. The replacement trees will be 100L-container trees with a stem diameter of 50mm, sufficiently big enough to support themselves without the need for stakes. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za