x
Breaking News
More () »

Trees being planted along Cumberland Avenue

The trees will add extra shade for people walking on the sidewalk and beautify the area.

The final stages of improving Cumberland Avenue are finally underway.

On Monday, crews started planting 93 big trees up and down the Strip, between 16th and 22nd streets.

Over the past few years, the busy street near the UT campus was reconfigured from four lanes to two lanes with a turning lane. Wider sidewalks and shorter cross sections, to become more pedestrian-friendly.

The official ribbon cutting happened in August, but the dry, warm weather caused the planting of the trees to be pushed back until December.

The trees will add extra shade for people walking on the sidewalk and beautify the area.

The city's Urban Forestry Division selected a wide array of species of trees to be planted along the Cumberland corridor. These include round-lobed sweetgums, lacebark elms, sweetbay magnolias and greenspire little leaf linden. The 4-inch caliper trees will be 15 to 20 feet tall when planted.

It will take three to four years before the trees will truly start to provide a good amount of shade, but in 15 years, Cumberland Avenue will look much different.

The tree planting should be finished by Dec. 21, and traffic may be impacted between 16th and 22nd streets.

Before You Leave, Check This Out