Angela Swartz/Daily Journal The corner of El Camino Real and Floribunda Avenue is the location of a planned Caltrans safety project that could require the removal of several varieties of trees, including eucalyptus.
Angela Swartz/Daily Journal The corner of El Camino Real and Floribunda Avenue is the location of a planned Caltrans safety project that could require the removal of several varieties of trees, including eucalyptus.
Some Burlingame and Hillsborough residents are concerned with the prospect of tree removal along El Camino Real and Floribunda Avenue to rebuild an intersection that is said to be unsafe.
The California Department of Transportation is currently in the environmental documentation phase of a project it hopes would improve traffic safety at the intersection, according to Caltrans spokeswoman Gidget Navarro. Caltrans is gathering information to assess potential environmental impacts of options that include installation of a left turn lane, which would require the widening of the road and potentially removing various types of trees, including eucalyptus, Navarro said.
Since El Camino Real is a state highway, it falls under Caltrans jurisdiction.
Hillsborough resident Sal Giglio lives on corner where the trees could be removed and said he was shocked when he received a letter from Caltrans about the potential project. The eucalyptus trees, specifically, were planted around the 1870s.
“These big eucalyptus trees are over 100 years old and I enjoy looking at them,” Giglio said. “I’ve heard the history of them. I asked [Caltrans], ‘do you have any idea of how big these trees are?’ From an environmental standpoint this isn’t good. These are heritage trees and I can’t believe they’re considering this.”
There is a national register listing for the Howard-Ralston Eucalyptus Tree Rows that flank El Camino Real from Ray Drive to Peninsula Avenue. The listing means that the historic status of the trees needs to be considered as part of environmental scoping.
Jennifer Pfaff, president of the Burlingame Historical Society, said that Caltrans would need to insert a fifth lane if it moves forward with the project.
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“It’s upsetting because those trees are really special,” Pfaff said. “And, to my knowledge, there would be no room for replacements. It would be very bleak and would ruin our historic drive. If there’s another way to figure out how to make the intersection safe, Caltrans should be responsible and consider it. There’s no highway in the state that is like this.”
Burlingame City Manager Lisa Goldman said trees do come down occasionally if they are diseased and that the state owns El Camino Real and, thus, the trees along it.
“It’s not that the city isn’t interested in what happens with eucalyptus trees; they are a landmark of the city,” Goldman said. “But the trees don’t belong to the city.”
As part of the project scoping, Caltrans will host a public meeting likely be held later this year in conjunction with the cities of Burlingame and Hillsborough to allow the public to provide input and assist in developing safety improvement options at the intersection.
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