Lakeville Highway 'tunnel' of trees being thinned

<p>A contractor hired by Sonoma County is removing 21 eucalyptus trees on Lakeville Highway east of Petaluma.</p><p>The project is targeting trees that county officials have said are “diseased, damaged, dead or dying,” and could pose a danger to passing motorists or prove vulnerable during storms. The work also includes trimming limbs that hang over the highway.</p><p>About 370 eucalyptus trees form a natural tunnel on the highway between Stage Gulch Road and the Blackpoint Cutoff. The removal and trimming work is happening in the heaviest concentration of the trees, between Old Lakeville Highway No. 2 and Old Lakeville Highway No. 3.</p><p>The work began Tuesday. Traffic delays are expected on weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m, and drivers have been advised to use alternate routes through the area. The project is set to run through the end of this month.</p><p>Some residents have long fought to protect the area's blue gum eucalyptus, a variety brought from Australia and planted in the area in the early 1900s.</p><p>Others have said the the aging trees are unsightly and present a growing threat to motorists. In 2005, a limb fell on a car on Lakeville Highway, injuring the driver. In 2002, a tree from the “Gum Grove” near Infineon Raceway fell and killed a motorist.</p><p>Sid Hendricks, an area rancher who has opposed past county plans to clearcut the grove, acknowledged that some of the trees could pose a safety hazard.</p><p>But he questioned the focus on tree removal when he said other safety improvements on Lakeville Highway were more pressing.</p><p>“I just think the trees are way down the list,” Hendricks said.</p><p>Tom O'Kane, the county's deputy public works director, said the ongoing logging work was not part of any revived plan to remove all the trees. That plan was shelved by county supervisors years ago, he said.</p><p>“This is just taking down trees that are suspect with the wind and the weather,” he said.</p><p>About 30 trees have been removed in the past couple of years, O'Kane said.</p><p>Those trees and the group being removed this month were identified by inspectors looking for structural cracks, insect infestations and disease, he said. Surveys are expected to continue before and after each coming winter.</p><p>“Were paying attention to this because of the age of the trees. Ninety to 100 years old, that's about the normal life span of a eucalyptus,” O'Kane said.</p>