It’s been five years to the week since C.W. Matthews Construction crews mistakenly cut 22 oaks to pave the way for the new Riverside Parkway. On Wednesday crews planted Princeton elm trees that will one day provide a similar shade canopy over the four-lane entrance to Rome.

Using federal stimulus dollars, crews from the Three Rivers Nursery in Rome planted 18 elms and several oaks in the median of the parkway.

City of Rome arborist Terry Paige said the elms would grow to 80 feet in height and offer an umbrella of shade over the four lanes.

John Hendrickson, a community forester with the Rolling Hills Resource Conservation and Development Council, shared in a $570,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act appropriation for the tree-planting project.

“We’re trying to get a bunch done by the end of the month,” Hendrickson said. “Even more trees will be planted this fall and next spring.”

Paige said the elms were chosen for the Riverside Parkway median for their shade potential.

“It seems like everywhere we can plant large trees, they end up being oaks. I’m glad we could get these elms, which will grow out over the road,” Paige said.

Hendrickson said another reason the Princeton elms were chosen is that they are resistant to Dutch elm disease.

During the last week of April 2005, construction crews mistakenly cut nine old oaks, which were slated for preservation, near Fuddruckers at the northern end of the parkway during construction of the highway.

During the course of the next couple of weeks, almost three dozen more trees will be planted at various locations along city rights of way as part of the stimulus-funded project.

Paige said at least a dozen different species would be included in the new plantings, including zelkovas, red maple, dogwoods and redbuds.

Hendrickson said the second set of trees that have yet to be planted would help replace trees that have been lost largely as a result of the drought. Paige said, “We’ve lost 300 trees (on public rights of way) in the last two years. We sure could not have afforded to buy these trees with our budget situation right now.”

The stimulus money is supporting local nursery operators and landscapers.

Three Rivers Nursery, 1905 Calhoun Road, won this particular contract. Hendrickson said that in the nine counties served by the Rolling Hills RC&D, as many as 25 jobs will be retained thanks to the stimulus grant.

The council worked in collaboration with the Georgia Forestry Commission to obtain the grant.