We only have a few more days to enjoy our Bradford pear trees along U.S. 31. They are disappearing from our roadways over the next two weeks beginning on the north end of town and ending at the southernmost part of the city limits.

That’s because the Alabama Department of Transportation has decided that the trees are too big and are causing a traffic safety issue.

According to Mark Dale, ALDOT’s Division II maintenance engineer, the pear trees are being removed because some of them have trunks whose diameters are larger than the 4-inch maximum allowed under federal guidelines. In addition, they have reached a height that puts them in contact with overhead power lines and visibility is limited at some highway crossovers.

While we understand that this is being done for the safety of drivers, we would have preferred to see a different solution than just cutting down these trees that have become a major part of Hartselle for the last three decades. Not only are they a large part of Hartselle, but many of them were also planted in memory of loved ones. Now in this one swift action, those memorials are being destroyed.

Could these trees have been trimmed to achieve an equivalent amount of safety?

When you drive around the state, you’ll notice that other municipalities have planted trees in the median, as Hartselle did nearly 30 years ago. Many of those trees are just as large as Hartselle’s trees. Some are even bigger. Why does it seem like Hartselle was singled out of these? Are there other cities next in line for this?

The main thing that we’re hoping for is that ALDOT will treat all of the cities in Alabama the same, regardless of population or political stature.

And maybe they are. It’s just that Hartselle’s turn came up before these other cities.

ALDOT has federal rules guiding their activity. If they don’t abide by those rules, they could lose funding for roads, and that’s something our state cannot afford.

Going forward, however, let’s make sure that our trees or shrubbery fits into the federal guidelines. Otherwise, our community will have to go through another situation like this.

And that’s something that we don’t need.