Our neighbors have poplar trees by the road which are close to our property line. They have been dying and falling over for years. Now the ones next to the road are falling over. Yesterday the 3rd tree fell into the second tree. Now I’m afraid they will fall into the road and someone might get hurt. I called the county sheriff and they gave me a hard time. A state police officer stopped by not too much later. He told me I had to talk to the neighbor, he said the tree wasn’t any dangerous than any other tree by the road and that I needed to call the highway department. I told him I thought it was very dangerous and it needed immediate attention. I also told him that he needs to contact the neighbor and the highway department, I did what I had to and contacted the “officials” and it wasn’t up to me to do anything else. I also told him that I took pictures of the situation for any future problems that might arise. He said he would handle it, whatever that means. The neighbors weren’t home for comment. We are cordial
I can't believe they aren't more responsive to a situation like this. That is an accident waiting to happen.
The lady I talked to at the Sheriff’s office and the State Police told me a list of stuff I need to do. I said no, that’s not up to me. I don’t own the trees and I don’t own the road.
I hate it when people don't listen and assume things. Especially people that should be in charge. I'd stop by the neighbors a couple times if necessary. Until you get a hold of them. Let them know how urgent the situation is. I once had a huge poplar snap off right in front of me while doing 55-60 mph or so. There was a storm, that actually spawned a tornado and wicked straight line winds. It snapped the tree off near the base and this tree rolled across the entire highway like a giant tumbleweed. I had to go off roading in my Jeep down the grass "apron", then up the hill and "surfed" my way back onto the road. Scary as hell, but no harm no foul.
There have been several other of the same trees dying over the years and they usually fall on my property. When I’ve cut them up it was just like cutting cardboard, that’s how rotten they get right before they fall.
You want a government employee to make more work for themselves ? Really ? Your local highway department most likely only has funds for removing trees that have actually fallen in the road. Extra funds for removal of potential problems likely has to be allocated via legislation and that could take <years>. What are the odds of that one leaner rotting and falling pretty much in place ?
They run on the reactive plan rather than the proactive plan. I would much rather clean the tree up at 9am on Monday with the sun shining than when its across the road midnight on Saturday with the wind howling in the pouring rain.
Talk to the neighbor ASAP. Cant believe they didnt recognize the hazard there. What are they waiting for? The tree to fall into the road, cause an accident and get sued? Talk to the neighbor and if nothing is done, keep an eye on it during wind storms.
Same thing goes on around here, especially on State land. Every time we get wind trees hit the road. Two years ago a motorcyclist got killed by a falling tree. Road commission does nothing until they fall. It's a stupid policy, but it's not gonna change. I'd talk to the neighbor & if he's ok with it, I'd call the road commission & tell them you're dropping three hazard trees into the road on X date & they'll need to close the road for 30mins. That'll usually get them moving. Those trees are like giant flyswatters when they come down. At least you've made them aware of the danger. Not a good situation!
If it had electric wires close enough to be affected by the falling tree(s) (looks like no?) they will often trim/cut down to prevent an outage...at least in this area they will...but we have public owned power though too, so...
Big storm a couple months ago north of us near Emporium. 2 (separate) trees fell on the road smashing three cars. Yes, one tree fell on top of 2 moving cars going in opposite directions. Big trees! They had to bring 2 ambulances from from 2 towns to take the drivers to 2 different hospitals because the road was blocked. (One ambulance on each side of the tree...) The other accident, less than 1 mile down the road, tree fell on another moving car.
I see a lot of sketchy ash trees close to the road around here. Some so far gone there’s hardly any tops left in them. Mostly in rural areas but like said before they are waiting for them to fall.
I'm with you but unfortunately most aren't. I've called the electric company more than once because of trees that were about ready to fall but they simply ignore and apparently it is more cost effective to do those type of things during or shortly after a wind brings them down, usually during the night time. Only once have I had success in contacting the road commission to drop a couple problem trees.
Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, especially during an election year, especially if it is somehow an issue, or if they have money in the budget they have to burn or they get less next year.
I like the idea of calling the right people and telling them you are dropping the trees across the road on a certain day and see if that gets someone’s attention. But it does all come down to your neighbors. Looks like a pretty dangerous situation to try and deal with from ground level.