Message from Barry N. Moore, Galax City Manager:
The city council and city manager have considered what is to be done with the sidewalk trees in the downtown marketplace area and the ever-escalating root damage they are causing to the infrastructure. The solution is two-fold: 1) Remove the trees over the next couple years beginning with the worst offenders of the sidewalks, curbs, storm water system via invasive roots, and ongoing root damage to street side electrical boxes. Some of the trees are also dying. The longer the trees remain, the more damage is being done to the city’s infrastructure and the more Galax guests and residents are tripping over root-caused sidewalk damage. 2) Once a tree is removed and infrastructure damage repaired, a large “tub” with 6’-10”arbovitea (also year-around color) or small tree will be forklifted onto that sidewalk spot. It will be a new look for Galax, very clean, save the city from doing a lot of infrastructure repair, and the marketplace tree replacement program will help ensure city residents and guests are no longer tripped by heaved sidewalks and broken curbs caused by trees.