RACINE, Wis. — A Racine resident is concerned about city response time after a tree planted on city property along Rapids Drive in Racine broke and fell into the road last week, hitting a car.
Racine resident Nicole Maiwald said she contacted the city earlier this year about the tree, which City of Racine Communications Director Shannon Powell confirmed.
"I noticed the branches were starting to separate," Maiwald said.
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City inspectors came out twice in April and found it to be in good condition.
But Maiwald said she had noticed warning signs.
"My first fear, being a mom, is these branches are going to fall down on somebody, or it's going to fall into the street, onto a car," Maiwald said. "And sure enough, that's what happened."
The tree "experienced a large branch failure" on Thursday, according to the city, a day that Racine saw consistent rain.
"We had a couple that were driving along; they had two little kids in the car, and the branch just fell right on top of their car, so it was pretty upsetting," Maiwald said.
TMJ4 did reach out to the driver involved but did not hear back by this story's deadline.
Maiwald said that while the driver was able to drive away from the scene, she's concerned that it could've been much worse.
"This was dangerous," she said. "These people could've had more serious damage to their car or to their kids."
Maiwald said a notice was left on her door following the branch's breaking, indicating the tree would be removed.
"They finally put a notice on the door the following day that they're going to take this tree down," Maiwald said.
On Tuesday, the city confirmed it is currently obtaining quotes for removal of the tree.
"The tree should be down by the end of the month or early November at the latest," Powell said.
But for Maiwald, the removal can't happen soon enough.
"Well, with how brittle that one was, what's to say something else is going to fall down on a kid," Maiwald said.
Residents with concerns about trees can contact the city's Forestry Division by phone, submit a service request online, or send an email. Requests can also be made through an alderperson or the mayor's office, which will forward them to the Forestry Division.
According to Powell, the city's Forestry Division said a typical report is usually resolved within two weeks.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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