In 2016 construction on the MAX transit line down 17th Ave SE began, and the very first step was to remove many of the almost 400 trees that lined the street. Typically trees in the way of infrastructure development are simply removed and destroyed, but International Avenue found a better way!
Our office took the initiative to arrange to have over 150 of those trees replanted at homes throughout the city. We did a call out to residents who wished to adopt, and had an overwhelming response. We then made arrangements to have each tree, a feat of logisitics we didn't quite realize we were getting into, but were exceedingly glad we undertook in the end.
We hope that this innovative approach to re-utilizing trees in Calgary will be applied to more infrastructure projects in the future! And ultimately, our revamped street will feature more trees that it had originally. Everybody wins!