GreenburghTown Supervisor Paul Feineris calling on the NY State Department of Transportation to study the impact Asiatic bittersweet vines along the Saw Mill River Parkway are having on Saw Mill River Parkway trees. If it is determined that these vines are creating dangerous conditions and weakening the trees, the vines should be removed from the trees. For over a decade Feiner has called on the state to remove the vines from the trees but the state has opted not to follow up on the suggestion due to budgetary problems.

Feiner said that this weeks tragedy (a tree fell on a car and killed a couple driving on the Saw Mill River Parkway) highlights the need for the state to at least study whether these vines are threatening trees. A September 17,2000 NY Times article entitled :Vines Threaten Trees Along Highways” discussed the “proliferation of invasive Asiatic bittersweet vines along roadways, which are encircling and threatening trees.”