DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
These are some of the albizia trees that were cut down near the Mililani Mauka freeway exit on H-2. Department of Transportation officials and Outdoor Circle representatives have decided which of the remaining trees will be removed or trimmed after the DOT's initial work drew criticism from the community.
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Some H-2 trees spared
The state has agreed to scale back pruning along the H-2 corridor
Fewer trees along the town-bound side of H-2 freeway will be cut down after a state transportation engineer admitted that he rushed the large tree removal project that prompted a public outcry last month.
Arborists from the Transportation Department and the environmental group Outdoor Circle agreed yesterday morning to remove about a dozen trees and to prune 40 others that are necessary to protect motorists on the freeway from Waipio to Mililani.
Transportation maintenance engineer George Abcede admitted that the department had rushed into the project after a large albizia tree branch fell and damaged an emergency call box near the Ka Uka Boulevard offramp in June.
"It started out as a trimming job, and as we got into it, we saw more liability issues and it snowballed from there," Abcede said. "Instead of slowing down and calling stakeholders, like Outdoor Circle, we just kept on going. It was a mistake on my part."
According to Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa, contractors removed 42 trees and pruned 25 before temporarily suspending work on July 27.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Officials from the Department of Transportation and Outdoor Circle gathered under trees near the Mililani Mauka entrance of H-2 yesterday to discuss which ones should be removed or trimmed.
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"What we did on the town-bound side shows that this is the kind of assessment that should have been done on the northbound side," Bob Loy, Outdoor Circle's director of environmental programs, said yesterday. "If that had been the case, there would have been far fewer trees removed, and the landscape would look much better."
The trees that pose a danger to passing motorists and will be removed on the town-bound side have insufficient root structures, were damaged or had decayed and weakened, Loy said.
After receiving more than 100 complaints from the community, Loy said he believes residents will be happier with the tree removal project than when it initially started.
Ishikawa said both sides learned a lesson to better communicate with each other ahead of time. They are talking about other tree removal projects along Pali Highway, the H-3 freeway and Likelike Highway.
This project was unique, transportation officials say, because of the number of trees and the type of tree involved, which were mostly albizia.
"This species has earned a bad reputation of being fast growing, invasive and brittle," said Abner Undan, a certified arborist working with Outdoor Circle.
The two parties will meet to decide which types of trees can replace the removed albizia. Ishikawa said they would like plant a native species, but they are also considering non-native monkeypod trees since they are suitable for the sloping freeway corridor and are not invasive.