Seen in Natomas: Garden Highway Tree Removal

Several trees are being removed along Garden Highway in preparation of levee improvement work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. / Photo courtesy Lois Walker

BY BRANDY TUZON BOYD
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz

Photo courtesy Lois Walker

Several trees are now being removed along Garden Highway as part of a Natomas-area levee improvement project.

For the next month, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors are preparing the future construction area adjacent to levee. This work includes relocating utilities, removing encroachments, cutting and trimming trees.

According to the Corps, only trees necessary for construction and utility relocation are being removed.

Those traveling the 3.5-mile stretch of Garden Highway between Farm Road and Gateway Oaks Drive should expect temporary single lane closures. In addition to construction traffic, area residents can expect increased noise related to the tree-cutting activities.

The plan for tree trimming and removals is as follows:

• January 8 – 18, 2021: Orchard Lane to Pumping Plants 1A and 1B
• January 19 – 26, 2021: Near 1610 Garden Hwy to the Ray and Judy Tretheway Oak Preserve
• January 27 – February 1, 2021: Near 2800 Garden Hwy to near 2604 Garden Hwy
• February 2 – 8, 2021: North of I-80 overpass

Work is scheduled to take place 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, weather permitting.

According to the Corps, geotechnical engineering analyses have shown that the levees are susceptible to seepage. Portions of the levee also have stability and long-term operation and maintenance concerns which the levee improvements are designed to address.

Planned improvements to this 3.5-mile-long stretch of levee, referred to as Natomas Reach A include: construction of an adjacent levee, which will widen the levee on the landside of the existing Garden Highway, installation of seepage cutoff walls, and construction of seepage berms on the landside of the levee.

The Natomas Basin is considered by flood risk management experts to be one of the most at-risk regions in the nation for catastrophic flooding. Levee improvements in the Natomas Basin were originally authorized in 1996; however, high water events in 1997 and 2006 identified underseepage issues throughout the basin.

In 2010, the Corps updated its plan for improving Natomas levees, and the project to improve the 42-mile-long ring levee that surrounds Natomas was authorized by Congress in 2014. The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency completed construction on the first 18 miles and the Corps began construction on the remaining 24 miles in 2018. The project is scheduled to be complete in 2025.

For more information about Natomas Basin levee improvement work go to www.natomaslevees.com.

Photo courtesy Lois Walker.