No traffic impacts are anticipated but motorists may notice Tacoma Power removing dangerous trees along State Route 16 from 36th Street to Olympic Drive on Tuesday, June 27. WSDOT is working with the power company to refurbish the area by providing plant material.

About 50 to 100 dead trees will be removed on this stretch of SR 16, many along the Cushman Trail. Tacoma Power and WSDOT want the dead trees removed to prevent them from falling on power lines or on the roadway.

“In addition to the safety issue, tree-related power outages can disrupt service to homes, businesses, hospitals and important community services,” said Hal Porter, Urban Forester, Tacoma Power. “To keep power outages from happening, trees near power lines need to be removed.”

A number of the trees have been “topped” to keep them from the power lines, which over time reduces the trees’ life span. Some of the trees are damaged from ice storms, others from fires, and some have reached their life expectancy.

This fall, WSDOT and its partners Tacoma Power, the Rotary Club and the City of Gig Harbor, will return for a collaborative planting effort. Shore pines, Pacific wax myrtles, and other large evergreen shrubs, are some of the plant material that will be used.