By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com
The Sacramento County Department of Transportation has begun a construction project to improve traffic safety on Fair Oaks Boulevard between San Ramon Way and Eastern Avenue.
The project, approved by the Board of Supervisors in October, builds on an earlier project that involved installation of guardrails and median landscaping on Fair Oaks Boulevard from Watt Avenue to San Ramon Way. That work was completed last August.
The current project will install steel-backed timber guardrails at various locations along the center median between San Ramon Way and Eastern Avenue. The work is intended to enhance the safety of motorists on Fair Oaks Boulevard and reduce the incidents of collisions in which vehicles run off the road, according to a Department of Transportation news release.
The project also will replace aging, diseased and damaged trees. Current tree removal work began in late February and must be completed before the guardrails and landscaping are installed.
The work will require intermittent closures of one travel lane of Fair Oaks Boulevard. Officials said they expect traffic delays to be kept to a minimum with work occurring only during non-commute hours. The tree removal will take about a week to complete.
Six elm trees will be removed as part of the project because they have structural decay or at at locations where the new guardrail will be installed. Eight new London pines will be planted to help offset the loss of the elm trees, according to the news release.
New shrubs also will be planted to help recreate a "naturalized" landscape that will nourish the trees, keep weeds in check and improve the appearance of the median
The guardrail installation is scheduled to start in early April to be completed in June.
The $536,000 project is funded by Measure A sales tax and the State Highway Safety Improvement Program.
Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.
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