Chuck Williams: Eufaula is example that you should look at the forest, not the trees

Sometimes you get so worked up over something that you can’t see the forest for the tress.

We have all heard that saying over the years. What does it mean?

It’s an expression used by someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole, according to Dictionary.com.

If you want to see a definition in action, drive through Eufaula, Ala. For months, many people there could not see the forest for the trees the beautiful oaks and magnolias that line stately North Eufaula Avenue.

I, for one, could not see the forest for the trees. I looked at the nearly 1-mile stretch of single-lane road and saw history I saw my hometown, and I saw things as they once were.

And I didn’t want any of that to change.

Back in January in an open letter to Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper, I was looking at the trees and failed to see the forest. And I killed a few trees when the Ledger-Enquirer published my thoughts.

“You and your ALDOT engineers have made a lot of promises,” the rant went. “Now, you must keep them. You must find a way to protect as many of the nearly 80 oaks and magnolias as you can. You don’t want that stuff to become firewood, lest you will be compared to Harvey Updyke.”

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking at the trees again, and this time I saw a forest.

ALDOT has completed its work on that stretch of U.S. 431 and now those leaving Atlanta or Columbus have a four-lane path to the Florida beaches without the full impact of the Eufaula bottleneck. The two extra lanes at a cost of more than $1.45 million appear to be doing what Cooper said they would do, moving more cars in a more timely manner with little impact to the trees in the median.

Has it solved the entire problem? No. But everyone in Eufaula knows that likely won’t happen until there is a bypass and that is a whole other can of worms.

But one thing is certain, all of the trees except one are still there as a result of ALDOT’s work. The only tree lost was dead and the state saved the city a little cash by taking it down.

And not only are the trees there, the canopy appears green and healthy. From my perspective, it has never looked better. There are few if any dead spots. The cuts that were made to allow big trucks to pass on all four lanes were measured and well done. ALDOT’s contractor even took out the dead limbs it had no obligation to touch.

Those who were against the project say the verdict won’t be in for five or more years. That is how long it will take for potential root damage to take hold and kill or harm the trees. But that, too, may have been mitigated by the fact that the cuts on the roots were made by saws and not the yanking of heavy equipment. The doomsday prophets could be right. Only time will tell.

But I can tell you this: If you look at those trees today, you will see a forest a beautiful urban forest.

And that leads us to a conclusion: While many people, me included, were looking at trees, ALDOT was looking at that forest.

This story was originally published May 25, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Chuck Williams: Eufaula is example that you should look at the forest, not the trees."