FAIRHOPE, Ala. — When the job is done, there will be about 40 new Bosque Chinese elms along Fairhope Avenue in the place of Bradford pear trees, many of which have been there since the 1980s, said Public Works Director and City Horticulturist Jennifer Fidler.

“Over the years, the Bradford pear tree has had some issues with branching,” Fidler said. “The bigger they get and heavier, the branches have tended to fall off. We’ve been replacing them with Bradford pears to have continuity along the street, but now we’re trying to go to a more structurally sound tree.”

The replacement program began on several nights this past week and involved members of other departments to make sure that gas, water and electric lines weren’t damaged during the removal of the large trees at the intersections of Fairhope Avenue and Section, Church and Bancroft streets.

Fidler said the department will continue to replace the trees along Fairhope Avenue and between those intersections next week.

“The city workers are putting up lights on other streets now; we are pushing it,” Fidler said regarding the timing of the two projects of changing out the trees and getting up the holiday lights. “If I don’t get them replaced by next week, I’m going to have to stop the project and resume after the tree lighting until all the lights get out of the trees in the spring.”

The falling limbs of the existing trees have posed a hazard for shoppers parked along the downtown streets, Fidler said. In the past, some of these heavy branches have fallen on parked cars. At least once, it happened while the vehicle was occupied, but fortunately no one was injured, she said.

“We’ve had some claims,” she also said, referring to lawsuits and demands for payment by those whose cars were damaged by limbs falling on them. “We’ve had about five claims that I recall in the last three or four years, but I don’t hear about them all.”

The large root system of the Bradford pears has also lifted up some parts of the sidewalk in the downtown area, which required repair of the sidewalks, she said.

The new trees were supplied by a company in Birmingham, which recently submitted a bill for approximately $7,400.

“But it’s going to be more than that (total),” said Fidler, referring to the cost for all the trees of between $130 for the smaller and $450 for the larger ones.”

The funds to purchase the trees came from two accounts at the public works department, Fidler said.

“We are lucky the pear trees have lasted as long as they have,” Fidler said. “Typically, they average 10 to 15 years; these have been up for about 25.”