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Residents say state left gateway plantings unfinished; council offered help
Summary
Residents and the Tree & Open Space Commission urged Newport City Council to press RIDOT to replace hundreds of trees and finish landscaping at the Pell Bridge gateway, presenting inventories that show large mortality among plantings and asking the city to finalize an MOU to act where the state has not.
Maureen Cronin, chair of the Tree & Open Space Commission, told the council the Pell Bridge realignment left the city's gateway in disarray and asked the council to demand the state finish the promised landscaping. "We were always promised that that would be the way it was going to be finished when it was all done," Cronin said, urging the city to finalize a memorandum of understanding that would allow it to act where the state has failed.
Resident volunteers said their inventory found large tree mortality at the site. "Of the 179 planted, 73 are alive," resident Lily **** said, and added that many of the survivors appear marginal because of poor planting and over-mulching. She and other residents offered to deliver a full inventory to the city so it can press RIDOT with data. City staff and several councilors said they would request additional documentation from the volunteers and explore an MOU or other mechanism to coordinate with the state. The council received the communication and the matter was placed on council follow-up for further action.
