Tree Removal on Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley Begins

Crews began removing trees along Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley on Wednesday, as part of the construction on Cedar Avenue to expand the roadways during 2011 and 2012 to accommodate a bus rapid transit system along the corridor.

Trees along the road from 147th Street West south to 160th Street West in Apple Valley will be removed, according to a news release from Dakota County, under whose jurisdiction the construction falls. Tree removal started along the southbound side of the road. 

The release says that for almost every tree removed, two will be planted upon completion of the construction; post-construction landscaping plans in 2012 include adding 1,300 shrubs and nearly 2,000 perennials, the release says, and the county will work with the cities of Apple Valley and Lakeville on those plans.

About 90 percent of the trees being removed are ash trees, the release says, which are being affected in the Twin Cities area by the Emerald Ash Borer. The ash trees along Cedar are at risk to become affected, the release says; signs include dead tree branches, vertical cracks in the tree bark, sprouts around the tree base, tunnels under the bark and D-shaped holes in the tree, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The Emerald Ash Borer is an insect that kills ash trees; Minnesota's Department of Agriculture already has quarantined ash trees and wood in Hennepin, Ramsey and Houston counties, according to an MDA alert.