Eucalyptus trees removal causes long delays on Hwy. 101

Caltrans crews called for an emergency eucalyptus tree removal along Highway 101 in Prunedale near Mallory Canyon Road.

“These kinds of trees don’t always have a very deep root system and that makes them susceptible to falling,” said Jim Shivers with Caltrans District 5.

Seinin Markee, who lives up the road, said winter storms knocked down one of the trees near her neighborhood.

“I’ve just seen it on the side of the road, parts of it were on the side of the road with cones going around it,” Markee said

On Monday, there were more cones and a longer commute for drivers, so that crews could clear the tree that once stood nearly 100 feet tall.

“We understand that there is an impact to motorist in terms of delays, but the removal of these trees is of the most importance for public safety,” Shivers said.

Caltrans said this makes it safer for drivers now and going forward.

“In the summer, it will be a fire hazard,” Markee said. “Clean it out, make sure it doesn’t cause any problems.”

Crews have had their hands full fixing those problems. They’re even patrolling trouble spots, taking out loose trees before they fall.

“Probably on all fronts, this is the busiest we’ve been in four to five years in terms of how our maintenance teams have had to respond to multiple occasions; our engineering staff have reported to multiple locations,” Shivers said.

Caltrans said most highways are back open after storm-related damage, but there will be occasional closures for repair work.

PREVIOUS STORY: Watch with us at 5 p.m. as Linda Zhang reports on the long delays experienced on U.S. Highway 101 on the No. 2 (right lane) of southbound U.S. Highway 101, just near Mallory Canyon Road (south of Crazy Horse Road) near Prunedale, closed from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. for emergency tree removal.

Electronic signs were posted along the corridor, alerting motorists of the closure and the CHP is assisting with traffic control while eucalyptus trees following recent storms are removed in this area to ensure the safety of everyone.

This roadwork is being done by the Salinas North Maintenance and Salinas Tree crews. Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway construction zones.

For more information on this project and for traffic updates on other Caltrans projects in Monterey County, residents can call the District 5 toll free number at 1-831-372-0862.