Dear Editor:

The article about landscaping the Route 27 construction zone (2-22-18) sounded great until I came to the part about putting a Colorado blue spruce in the middle of the roundabout.

Two problems:

1. Colorado blue spruce grows to be a big tree. I fear it could block the view of motorists entering the roundabout of those elsewhere in the system who may need to be considered when entering it. Also, would the root system exceed the size of the roundabout?

2. Colorado blue spruce is not native to Maine. There seems to be, correctly, an emphasis in other parts of the project to use native plants. Why not use a native plant in the most prominent part of the project? We have many as beautiful as the Colorado blue spruce.

Bruce Wood
Portland