Brandon Twp.-Fred Swan knew something was wrong.
For more than 35 years the Sherwood Road resident traveled the wooded section of the tree-canopied, rural gravel road.
‘We drive Sherwood Road all the time,? said Swan. ‘We drove under that oak tree and just didn’t trust it. I knew it was going to give.?
Swan’s concern was warranted.
On March 13 David Aaron Allen died after the Ford F-150 pick up truck he was riding in was crushed by the Oak tree questioned by Swan. Two others, also in the pickup truck, were injured in the accident during high winds on the one mile section of Sherwood Road east of Sashabaw Road.
Following the accident, it was reported that Swan had called the Department of Citizen Services regarding the Oak tree in June. In the report obtained by The Citizen, Swan said the Oak tree was about an 1/4 mile west of Baldwin Road.
A foreman from the RCOC responded to the Sherwood Road location within about 12 hours of the initial call, said Craig Bryson, Road Commission for Oakland County public information officer.
‘Our foreman never saw the tree that fell,? said Bryson. ‘He never found the tree because the location given in the report by the resident was wrong. The directions to the tree provided by the resident was a good 1/4 mile from where the tree actually was.?
‘We went out and measured the location of the tree that fell and it was not where the resident said it was. Not to be critical of the resident’there’s a lot of trees along that road. Still there’s no guarantee, and it’s peer speculation, that the tree would have been cut down if the foreman had seen the right tree.?
Swan was suprised they couldn’t find the tree.
‘You’d think they would ask me. They had my phone number and I’d meet him down there, it’s two minutes from my house. I can’t believe the couldn’t find that big tree.?
Bryson said the Department of Citizen Services received about 1,200 calls regarding trees in Oakland County in the first 10 months of 2005.
Yet despite the tragedy on Sherwood Road, Swan and other area residents are concerned that many trees are precariously too close to area roadways and could pose a safety hazard for motorists.
Liz Crist, a Groveland Township resident who lives along Groveland Road near Barron Road says she’s glad to see large trees along her road finally being cut down prior to a major paving project.
‘These trees are far too close to the road and many are dead on top of that,? said Crist. ‘There’s a big tree just inches across the road from us.?
In addition to local areas trees statewide are also a concern for transportation officials.
Cary Rouse, a resources manager and forester for the Michigan Department of Transportation says keeping the trees at bay in smaller communities is many times just not feasible.
‘In the old days with a large forestry crew, more could get done, but there’s no systematic way to do it, we just don’t have the resources,? said Rouse, an MDOT forester for the past 18 years, who also served 11 years with the US Forest Service.
‘One current issue is the small older communities where many trees were planted at the same time, those trees are nearing the end of their usefulness. Many people just don’t want to see these tree go.?
Rouse added that every tree dies differently and dead trees are not necessarily the most suspectable to fall.
‘Silver Maples may be one of the worse trees, they die and just don’t lose their leaves’that creates more wind resistance causing trees to blow over.?