The removal of two trees will force the closure of the Hamilton City car park this weekend.

The car park will close at 6.00am on Saturday and will reopen at 6.00pm on Sunday.

“This is a matter of safety as two trees are being removed from the centre and relocated to the two north corners of the car park,” said a Corporation spokesperson. “In addition, some new trees will be planted on the Wesley Street sidewalk. This requires a major crane operation.”

The City of Hamilton’s Senior Engineer Ian Hind said the city had scheduled the work to minimise disruption to motorists.

“Depending on how well the work proceeds, the car park may open Sunday afternoon,” he said. “However, these are mature trees and this is no small undertaking. This is a significant operation involving deep holes being dug, truckloads of soil being moved and it would not be practical to close off only part of the car park. It would be dangerous to allow motorists in and we therefore have no option but to close it completely.”

The streets surrounding the car park — Victoria Street, Wesley Street and Dismont Drive — will all remain open to traffic as normal.

The two False Ebony trees are being relocated as a part of the City Hall car park construction plan, to install a paid barrier system to protect City of Hamilton revenue, added the statement.