Empty tree wells get trashed
- Source: Global Times
- [09:27 March 22 2011]
- Comments
Garbage fills sidewalk tree wells along Chengshousi Lu Monday. Photo: Yang Jie
By Yang Jie
Residents living near South Third Ring Road are voicing complaints as hundreds of sidewalk tree wells remain empty and are used as default "trash bins" years after a road expansion project ended in their area.
"We have been expecting new trees to be planted in these wells," said Li Heping, a middle-aged woman living near Chengshousi Lu, "this area's environment really needs improvement."
She told the Global Times that the original trees were all removed when the expansion project began years ago.
Chengshousi Lu underwent a road widening project between Xiaocun Bridge in South Fourth Ring Road to South Third Ring Road beginning in 2006, with over 600 tree wells created on nearly 3 kilometers of sidewalk.
Although the road has been open to traffic since September 2010, yet not a single tree has been planted.
Many of the wells, composed of 1 square meter of exposed dirt, were void of anything green, but full of cigarette butts, coal cinders, dog feces and other waste as of Monday.
Some were even filled in with bricks to better facilitate sidewalk parking.
"People have taken these unoccupied pits as trash bins and we are obviously put out," a sanitation worker surnamed Luo, told the Global Times Monday.
"These holes also pose a potential risk to the elderly or children who might trip into them," Li added. Some wells measure about 10 centimeters deep.
Li suggested that surrounding neighborhoods organize residents to voluntarily plant trees rather than wait in vain.
