'Serious public safety hazard': Saskatoon resident concerned about falling tree limbs

Saskatoon North Park resident Cliff Speer lives next to Marriott Park, which is full of mature poplar trees.

Speer says the trees, or more specifically their limbs, are creating a safety hazard.

“If you have one of those big limbs that comes down…they're big enough to actually kill somebody if they come down and hit them, square on the head,” he said.

 “There's little kids playing in the park here, young mothers bringing in their kids, young children in strollers and that kind of thing. So all you have to have is something like that come down on them, and then you've got a real serious problem.”

Speer says poplar trees are fast-growing and a popular choice to plant in parks to create shade, but their drawback is they contain softwood and are structurally weak.

He says three limbs have fallen in the span of a year, including one last Friday just outside his house.

“No warning, it was about 6:15 p.m. or so in the evening, beautiful weather,” he said.

“No violent winds, there was no storm, there was nothing really that would cause it externally to break and come down.”

He says the poplar tree roots have caused ruts in the paved walking paths in the park, creating a potential tripping hazard.

Speer said he’s sent a letter to the City of Saskatoon detailing his concerns but was told there was no reason for concern. The North Park Richmond Heights Community Association wouldn’t provide him with a letter of support, according to Speer.

In a statement, City of Saskatoon director of parks Darren Crilly says the parks department has had a lengthy correspondence with Mr. Speer on the matter, including a two-hour meeting with a senior manager and a senior arborist in Marriott Park.

“After reviewing information gathered from our risk assessment and inspection processes carried out by trained professional ISA arborists, Parks considers the poplar trees in Marriott Park to be healthy, sound and of low risk to the community,” the statement reads.

“As such, the poplar trees will be protected and preserved so they can continue to contribute many associated environmental and quality of life benefits to the community.”

Crilly said to achieve zero risk the city would need to remove all trees in Saskatoon, which they aren’t going to do.

“We also provided information to Mr. Speer that the parks department is looking forward to renewing the pathway, irrigation system and playground structure, as these renewed amenities will serve to improve the current park conditions,” the statement reads.

Despite that, Speer said the potential of falling tree limbs is a serious public safety hazard.

“We’ve got to look at some sort of organized plan for replacing them with other trees that are more appropriate for this small park,” he said.

“They aren't a tree that is designed to be in a small little park like this or near any residence, anywhere where they can cause damage like power lines and that sort of thing. Lots of those limbs can come over on those power lands and they have in the past. It’s just the wrong tree in the wrong place basically is the problem.”