One hundred and six linden, zelkova, honey locust, ginkgo, maple, yellowwood, hawthorn, pear and elm trees will grace Westminster's East Main Street next spring.
The street will also gain 2,567 shrubs, grasses and flowers -- yews, pygmy bamboo, winterberry holly, sweet pepperbush, ajuga and liriope (ornamental grasses) and black-eyed Susans.
The plants will be the final touch in the streetscape that a citizen task force set out to create in 1991 as part of the reconstruction of East Main Street.
City Councilwoman Rebecca A. Orenstein, then a private citizen, persuaded state Transportation Secretary O. James Lighthizer to come to Westminster and listen to residents' vision of a historic Main Street.
"It's going to be a small-town atmosphere," Ms. Orenstein said last week. "People will walk here, be comfortable here, be safe here, and this landscaping effort is part of that."
She said the streetscape can contribute to Westminster's downtown revitalization effort.
Neil Ridgely, a member of the Westminster Tree Commission, said he thinks "people will come to love" the tree-shaded street. The commission approved the final selection of tree and shrub species last week.
In Westminster, a designated "Tree City" that is serious about its trees, a committee of the tree commission walked East Main Street several times before making the choices.
Commission Chairman Joseph R. Barley said the committee tried to choose trees that wouldn't get too tall or too wide, wouldn't hit utility lines or shed fruit, and would be resistant to diseases and insects.
In 1991, the public rejected State Highway Administration (SHA) plans to remove all existing trees and widen the street to 40 feet from the intersection of Longwell Avenue to Washington Road.
In the final version, the street was widened only slightly, to 36 feet, concrete "bubbles" were installed to provide growing space for trees and to slow traffic, concrete pavers that resemble bricks were added to mark crosswalks, and the SHA cut down eight of the 42 trees on the street at the time.
The bubbles have drawn some criticism because installing them eliminated 19 of the 179 parking spaces on East Main Street. The 160 remaining spaces have been marked with lines "to get better management of the spaces," said Thomas B. Beyard, city planning and public works director.
East Main Street resident and former City Council President William F. Haifley said he hears comments that, "These bubbles are ridiculous."
Mr. Haifley said the bubbles impede the street sweeper and people complain about the loss of parking spaces and tires of their cars hitting the bubbles.
The citizen task force recommended the bubbles and the City Council approved the idea.
The tree commission plans to advertise for bids in the next few months so the trees, shrubs and flowers can be planted in the spring.
Six elm trees will come from the city nursery. The nursery has been raising Liberty elms, a strain of American elm that resists the Dutch elm disease that wiped out elm trees across the United States.
The contractor will furnish other trees and shrubs to city 'N specifications.