Why Were the Cherry Blossom Street Trees Uprooted in Sangri Village, Changwon?

Jinhae District Office Defies Ministry of Land Guidelines to Proceed with Sidewalk Construction... Residents Protest

Paving block construction is underway in the acceleration lane section in front of Jinhae District Office, Changwon City, Gyeongnam.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Sharon] In Jinhae, Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province, a controversy is arising as a sidewalk and pavement block construction project worth 900 million won is being carried out without collecting residents' opinions.

According to Jinhae-gu and village residents on the 2nd, a road maintenance project is currently underway in two phases in Sangri Village near Jinhae-gu Office. This area is partly designated as a greenbelt, and along the roadside, cherry blossom trees over 10 years old line the street, attracting citizens' attention every spring.

Since there are few shops or houses nearby and it is an acceleration lane section, pedestrian traffic is sparse. However, recently, Jinhae-gu started construction, stating that they will remove all the cherry blossom trees here and lay pavement blocks to create a new sidewalk.

It has been revealed that Jinhae-gu omitted basic surveys such as local resident questionnaires, which are stipulated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport guidelines, during the pavement block construction.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Sidewalk Installation and Management Guidelines,' when installing sidewalks, plans must be made comprehensively considering pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile traffic volumes through basic statistical surveys such as population, road surveys, traffic surveys, and local resident questionnaires. This measure is implemented every year at the end of the year to prevent cities and counties from wasting budgets on populist pavement block projects and other road maintenance works.

Residents are puzzled by Jinhae-gu's plan to build sidewalks in places where pedestrians are usually almost nonexistent. Besides the first phase section where the street trees are being removed and construction has started, the remaining second phase section is in a greenbelt area and has not yet secured the necessary budget for construction, making it uncertain whether the actual construction will proceed.

Resident A, living in Jangcheon-dong, said, "Changwon City is wasting taxpayers' money on roads that cause no inconvenience or complaints from residents," and expressed dissatisfaction, saying, "I wonder why they are carrying out construction even removing cherry blossom trees that are over 10 years old."

Another resident B complained, "Although there were places in Jinhae-gu where soil was washed away due to last summer's typhoon, the local government only performed emergency repairs due to lack of budget, and construction was halted," adding, "Meanwhile, Changwon City and Jinhae-gu are focusing only on non-urgent projects."

A Jinhae-gu road maintenance official admitted, "It is true that some guidelines, such as collecting local residents' opinions, were not followed," but explained, "The decision was not made considering any specific individual or company."

Construction zone on the acceleration lane in front of Jinhae District Office (photo above), and the development restriction zone sign displayed in the construction area (photo below).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.