The trees to the left, on the median at Barclay Farm on Route 70, were marked for removal.
Chainsaws will not immediately tear into the mature trees on the roadway island on West Gate Drive leading into the Barclay Farm neighborhood from Route 70 in Cherry Hill.
Mayor Susan Shin Angulo and Township Council President David Fleisher met on Monday with the state Department of Transportation after upset residents — already mobilized to oppose plans for a Super Wawa at the adjacent shopping center — discovered the trees were literally marked for removal to make way for a Route 70 drainage project.
The Barclay Farm median was installed when the development was constructed by builder Bob Scarborough's company in the 1960s. The islands fall under the Township's jurisdiction and residents help to maintain the landscaping.
Original plans for resurfacing and improving drainage on Route 70 in Cherry Hill would have required removal of the Barclay Farm trees.
"As confirmed on the call yesterday, NJDOT has agreed that their initial review indicates the ability to authorize the modification to relocate the pipe to the side of the road on West Gate Drive, rather than have it run through the median," Angulo and Fleisher stated in their October 19 letter to the DOT. "Also, as discussed, relocation of the pipe means that the trees in the West Gate median will not be disturbed."
The stay of execution for the trees does not mean the neighbors' battle to save the median is over. Plans for the Super Wawa, yet to go before the Planning Board, call for the removal of the whole median to accommodate traffic and a driveway that would be built from the center to West Gate Drive.
However, a neighborhood source told 70and73.com that the Preserve Barclay group and its land-use lawyer recently met with representatives of Wawa and the shopping center owner to discuss options for a Wawa that could be more palatable to residents.
Township Council also has backed the neighborhood's opposition to Wawa removing the median, with state DOT approval.Â
» READ MORE: Cherry Hill Township Council scrutinizing Barclay Farm Super Wawa proposal.
Until then, Angulo and Fleisher told the DOT Office of Community Relations in their letter that they want to be confident no one touches the trees.
"Please communicate this information to your contractor, as well as the subcontractor charged with tree removal, to ensure that no further work is undertaken in the median," they wrote. "Please confirm that you issued a stop work order to your contractor regarding the tree removal."
