At a meeting on April 30 that involved activists and representatives of the traffic police, Vice-Mayor of Novgorod Vladimir Eryomin assured that the town hall, as well as the public, was against the thoughtless felling of trees and was ready to consider alternative solutions to the problem. The meeting took place after the information about Municipal Services’ intention to cut down several trees in the streets of the town’s historical part on the instructions of the inspection drew a wide response, the correspondent of 7x7 reported.
At the meeting in the administration, employees of the town traffic police department and public activists agreed that experts would come up with alternative ideas on how to ensure the clear view of road signs and save healthy trees at the same time. For example, as suggested by Anna Sokolova, the representative of the Novy Gorod (‘new city’) Urban Movement, and Kira Korennova, the creator of the Derevya Velikogo Novgoroda (‘the trees of Veliky Novgorod’) Project, the roadway in the crosswalks’ area could be narrowed — this would allow taking the signs out to the open area and protect pedestrians. According to Anna Sokolova, such a solution is already being implemented in other cities and towns, and it is recommended by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.
At the end of April, Municipal Services got an order to bring road signs in accordance with the all-Union State Standard, so that they could be viewed 50 m away. The municipal enterprise cut down the lower branches of the trees, but the representatives of the inspection were not satisfied with this, so they demanded cutting down the trees. Editor-in-chief of Novgorod TV Diana Vasina reported this in social networks, the information quickly spread and drew a wide response from citizens, activists contacted the town administration and demanded cancelling the decision.