More dead or dying trees in San Jose will soon be cut down.
Last week, the city started to remove 32 trees in the Circle of Palms downtown because they were diseased and at risk of falling. Now, the city plans to tear out nearly three dozen more trees on Zanker Road.
The city tagged 35 trees along the Zanker Road meridian and said the scheduled removal over the coming weeks is not up for debate.
“Many of the trees are already either completely dead or on their way there – they’re dying,” said Colin Heyne with the city’s Department of Transportation. “That’s why they’re posted pink. They don’t have a protest period like a tree removal typically would. There’s no going back for these trees. We will be removing them.”
The struggling trees include loquats, purple leaf plums and European olive trees – greenery that simply does not do well in the current location.
“They’re not suitable for the growing conditions right there in the median of a busy street or the drought conditions that we face here in San Jose,” Heyne said.
The city plans to replace the uprooted trees with 100 new ones that are better suited to the area.