I spent the morning talking to Mr. Elias at Caltrans about the trees. He was, apparently, horribly misquoted in the newspaper and I'm sure we all have sympathy for that issue. Caltrans is not going to take all the Eucs down, as was reported.
Anyhow, when I asked about the Caltrans arborist, he referred me to the landscape architect for Caltrans, who makes recommendations to the board.
My question has been, for months, why did they choose the microtheca as El Camino replacement trees?, They are soooo unattractive. The architects impression was that Burlingame's arborist had favored them, as he had seen them in Albany. I checked on this. Apparently, he thought that the public only would except another euc as replacement tree, and that this relatively new type, microtheca was the only type that remains small enough to fit under the wires and not destroy the sidewalks.
Do you all think the public would only accept eucs?? I don't believe this to be true. I believe the public wants trees on El Camino, period. As the Historical Society, it is our job to address this and educate the people about why the eucs were planted in the first place. These microtheca will never ever look like the Eucs we have left. In our next newletter, we should write a brief explanation of history, etc.
The Caltrans architects opinion as a landscaper is that the eucalyptus are too brittle, and for this reason, a safety liability (including my favorite, the iron bark.) She says in a century, the same issue of safety will come to a head, because the trees shouldn't be used as street trees.
She was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and would like to inform the public, that Caltrans certainly does not intend to clearcut the trees. They are giving a lot of thought to replacements, and these will not automatically be the microtheca, thank goodness. It is possible that even Albany may not be planting those eucs anymore.
Anyhow, when I asked about the Caltrans arborist, he referred me to the landscape architect for Caltrans, who makes recommendations to the board.
My question has been, for months, why did they choose the microtheca as El Camino replacement trees?, They are soooo unattractive. The architects impression was that Burlingame's arborist had favored them, as he had seen them in Albany. I checked on this. Apparently, he thought that the public only would except another euc as replacement tree, and that this relatively new type, microtheca was the only type that remains small enough to fit under the wires and not destroy the sidewalks.
Do you all think the public would only accept eucs?? I don't believe this to be true. I believe the public wants trees on El Camino, period. As the Historical Society, it is our job to address this and educate the people about why the eucs were planted in the first place. These microtheca will never ever look like the Eucs we have left. In our next newletter, we should write a brief explanation of history, etc.
The Caltrans architects opinion as a landscaper is that the eucalyptus are too brittle, and for this reason, a safety liability (including my favorite, the iron bark.) She says in a century, the same issue of safety will come to a head, because the trees shouldn't be used as street trees.
She was extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and would like to inform the public, that Caltrans certainly does not intend to clearcut the trees. They are giving a lot of thought to replacements, and these will not automatically be the microtheca, thank goodness. It is possible that even Albany may not be planting those eucs anymore.
- Written by Jennifer Pfaff
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