Dozens of newly planted trees lining Cleveland's Memorial Shoreway from Downtown Cleveland to Edgewater park seem to be dead or may be dying.
The trees planted in Oct. 2017 are part of the Ohio Department of Transportation's massive $41.5M Lakefront West beautification project.
Community activist Robert Carillio said even though the landscaping contractor has a year probationary period in its contract with ODOT, he's concerned taxpayers will have to foot the bill for dozens of tree replacements later this year.
Carillio believes ODOT should have done a better job requiring more contractor tree care this past spring.
"The trees are zombies now, they're dying, they're rotting," Carillio said. "That kind of care needs to be done immediately when you plant new trees. They can't wait 6 months to do that, this should have been done a long time ago."
News 5 contacted ODOT District 12 Headquarters, and it said it will make the landscaping contractor replace any and all dead trees this coming October.
ODOT said after the project is completed, tree maintenance along the Memorial Shoreway will be left to the City of Cleveland and the Metroparks.
But when News 5 contacted the city, it said tree maintenance for the project is a job for ODOT.
Carillio is just hoping maintenance and responsibility for the project doesn't get caught in governmental limbo.
"They all need to get on the same page," said Carillio. "At the end of the day I think the taxpayers are going to be left with, 'Not I, said the goose. It's not my job, it's their job,' or they messed up and then nothing gets done."
