The Select Board this week voted to move forward with plans for the Chelmsford-North Roads redesign and sidewalk project, still holding out hope that at least one of the venerable trees to be sacrificed in the process can be saved.

The tree removal is built into a project that has been developing for several years: realigning the intersection of North and Chelmsford Roads, and adding a sidewalk on the east side of North and Chelmsford Roads between Sweetwater Avenue and Isabella Lane.

“We all struggle with these tradeoffs. We recognize that everyone who has been involved all along has been looking for ways to minimize the loss of trees,” said Select Board Chair Margot Fleischman. “But ultimately I don’t want us to miss this opportunity to do this with integrity.”

The project encompasses the removal of 53 public and 80 privately-owned trees. The Department of Public Works and the Bedford Arbor Resources Committee (BARC) have collaborated for the past year to ensure that the project is consistent with the town tree policy, particularly the planting of replacement trees and a monetary deposit into a special fund.

But at a tree warden’s statutory hearing last week, several speakers, some of them BARC members, appealed on behalf of a few of the oldest trees. They say at least two are more than 200 years old. State law provides that if there are objections in writing, the outcome of the hearing rests with the Select Board.