Trees Removed from Downtown Islands, Landscape Plans Underway

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) – People visiting downtown may notice some things are missing: the trees and shrubbery that were in two islands at the corner of Main Avenue and Shoshone Street are now gone.

There were several reasons for the removal, said Twin Falls Economic Development Director Nathan Murray.

“There was a visibility issue,” he said, referring to drivers who can now better see pedestrians crossing the street, “and roots from trees were pushing up some of the curbing and planter sections.”

The trees also were dying due to an infection of bore beetles, said Joshua Palmer, the city's public information coordinator, noting also that, like the other ash trees that were removed from downtown, “their root structure was never really suitable for an urban environment.”

But there was another reason: to make the planters more consistent with the Main Avenue Redesign Project.

“Really, we just wanted to create an aesthetic that was more consistent … to make it more uniform with what’s downtown,” Murray said.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department is working with Windsor Nursery on new landscaping for the islands, said the department's Administrative Assistant Nikki Miller, but new plantings likely won’t happen until spring.

Miller, who was speaking on behalf of the project manager who was unavailable at the time, did not say what those plans consisted of, but Murray said anything new will take into consideration the visibility of pedestrians crossing the street.