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Show Springville Mayor Faces Problem Conerning Old Cottonwood Tree The old Cottonwood tree on Main street, which has been the subject of considerable controversy con-troversy over the years, would seem doomed from a letter received re-ceived this week by Mayor J. Emmett Bird from the Utah State Road Commission. The letter read as follows: Mr. J. Emmett Bird, Mayor Springville, Springville, Utah Dear Mayor Bird: I understand the lighting system in which we are participating parti-cipating is now completed or nearly so. We are sure that it will be quite an asset to the town of Springville. As you recall, our agreement with you provides that . the Town of Springville will remove re-move all signs along Main street and remove all trees that will adversely affect the lighting system. We expect that you plan to take care of these items shortly. The old Cottonwood tree at the Third North and Main Street has been the subject of considerable discussion and controversy. We have carefully studied the problem and believe that the tree is a hazard to traffic. The clearance under the limbs is not enough for our present day trucks as is evidenced by the scoring on the underside of the limbs over the traffic lane. The big hazard that exists is that some trucker coming through should see the limbs and swerve suddenly sud-denly into the adjacent lane to miss a limb and collide with cars coming in the opposite direction. di-rection. This could result in a very serious traffic accident. Further, leaving the tree in will cause shadows that will reduce the effectiveness of the lighting system and increase the traffic hazard mentioned above. In addition while opinions opin-ions have been presented that the tree is sound, the damage done to it by lightening some years ago make it a definite hazard during wind storms and it could be the cause of damaging damag-ing highway accidents on being be-ing blown across the traffic lanes. I am sure that careful care-ful examination of the tree in its present condition will substantiate this opinion. We certainly appreciate the value of the tree from a historical his-torical standpoint. It is a cherished cher-ished item that has a great amount of historic and emotional emo-tional value. We are wondering if the historic value cannot be preserved by placing a monument monu-ment in its place. We are of the opinion that the tree is a definite traffic hazard and should be removed and that further, it is a part of the agreement that you folks have with the State in connection connec-tion with the lighting system. We would appreciate your early actjion in the matter. Yours very truly, Ellis L. Armstrong, Director of Highways, cc: Dist. Engr. Erin Leonard. |