Residents who were riled up over the removal of enormous Norway maple trees from Brackenridge Memorial Park can breathe a sigh of relief.

Trees, more than two dozen total, will return this fall to the park along the Allegheny River.

Ashley Martin, from the nonprofit Friends of the Riverfront, said 28 ball-and-burlap trees will be planted in November to provide cover and boost air quality.

They will replace the towering trees that were removed two years ago to make way for the construction of the borough’s portion of the 35-mile Three Rivers Heritage Trail, managed by Martin’s group.

Opened in July, the trail stretches 1 mile along First Avenue, from ATI at Mile Lock Lane to near Dreshar Stadium at the Tarentum line.

The cost was about $450,000, paid with grants from Allegheny County and the state.

Councilman Dino Lopreiato said he understands the public’s frustration with removal of the trees but said it was necessary.

“The roots were going to be severely damaged when the trail was put in,” he said. “Also, the trees were brutally pruned by the power company. They hacked the tops and sides, which made them side-heavy, and they were toppling over every time we would get a storm.”

Lopreiato said the borough’s Easter celebration in some years was canceled because windstorms were forecast and organizers were fearful participants could be injured.

Improper pruning made the trees more susceptible to pests and disease, Lopreiato said.

“After talking with people from Tree Pittsburgh, they recommended that the trees should’ve been taken out because they were at the end of their days,” he said.

Martin, Friends’ trail stewardship program manager, said the trees will be replaced with species that include Eastern redbud, serviceberry, plum, yellowwood, American hornbeam, thornless hawthorn and crabapple.

The new varieties will be planted along the bike path on the trail’s lower end, between Morgan and Cherry streets. Six more will be planted in the park overlooking the river.

“This time they will not be underneath the power lines,” he said. “They will be on the other side of the trail so they can grow and the power company would have no need to top them off or cut the sides.”

They will be mostly mid-height, flowering trees and “wonderfully fragrant,” Lopreiato said.

All of the monuments will be kept free of tree coverage so passersby will be able to see them.

Volunteers will be needed to help plant in November. Martin said an exact date will be announced closer to the event.

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