78 trees cut for the REM in Deux-Montagnes

MONTREAL -- Workers have cut dozens of trees in Deux-Montagnes to make way for the REM.

On the site of a future station, 78 came down recently. Some residents, like Caroline Fafard, are upset.

"It was huge, and it was so beautiful," she said of one tree that was cut down. "The children were looking at it, falling down in one minute, and nobody was talking, and they were all looking at it, and they were all looking sad."

The trees had to be cut, REM spokesperson Virginie Cousineau said, but 250,000 will be planted around the city to replace them. "It's not going to be as old as the trees that were cut, but the trees that we're going to plant will grow as well, so in the upcoming years, they will have this sense of green space," she said.

"I know they had to cut some," Fafard said. "But I never thought they would cut everything."