According to regulations, the Alabama Department of Transportation is requiring that a number of the crepe myrtle trees that line the median of Alabama 59 in Gulf Shores be replaced due to their size.

Any trees with a trunk diameter in excess of four inches must be replaced due to safety concerns.

For several days, city workers have been busy removing and replacing the trees that violate this regulation.

“We have to do it even though that tree might save a life,” said Gulf Shores Beautification Board Chairperson Judy Smith.

All of the trees that require uprooting, however, will not simply be discarded. According to Smith, every effort is being made to replant the trees in other areas.

“All of those crepe myrtles that are being taken out, if we can get them out with a good root system, are being recycled,” Smith said.

Some of the trees are going to the Gulf Shores Sportsplex on County Road 6, and a few have been planted at the South Baldwin Community Theatre.

“We are replanting the ones that can be replanted, but the ones that cannot, if their roots aren’t good, they are being mulched. But everyone that is coming out is being recycled in some way.”