Part of what makes living in the foothills so pleasurable is being surrounded by trees providing shade and privacy. But when it comes to road safety, trees growing into the path of traffic is a problem.
The trees on the Rocky Road District easement have not been cut back or removed for years. Consequently, this foliage is causing traffic hazards such as:
blind spots hiding bicycles, motorcycles and small cars
pedestrians stepping onto the roadway to avoid bushes
unsafe clearance for emergency vehicles
This is what the District is doing about it: In March, we met with Fire Captain Scott Hertzog and asked, “What and where do trees need to be trimmed back to so your fire engines have safe access?”
Scott assigned a team to inspect all sixteen miles of Rocky Road District’s streets. Using the height of a fire engine (10 feet 2 inches) as a criteria, the team identified areas of concern.
To accommodate pedestrian safety as well as emergency vehicles access, it was decided to trim the foliage five feet off the fog line (the solid white line on the right side of the pavement) and eleven feet high.
With this information in mind, we hired a professional tree service by the name of Nate’s Tree Service that will begin work shortly.
As mentioned, one of the benefits of trees is the privacy they provide. As we trim, we will balance the need between privacy and safety; however, safe roads are our primary goal.
Drive carefully, your safety is important to us.
John Howsden