The tree trimming will start in less than a month, but we're not talking about dressing up that christmas tree.

A major tree trimming and removal project will start along the H-3 freeway.

It has taken many years, but there are some trees along the H-3 freeway that need cutting.

Tammy Mori, of the State Transportation Department says, "This is actually the first time that the H-3 freeway has had a tree trimming, major tree trimming project like this one. We've done some minor maintenance along the way. But this time 140 trees will be removed or trimmed."

The great majority, 120, will be trimmed, with about twenty slated for removal.

The work will be done on both sides of the freeway.

And they're not selected at random, a certified arborist has already surveyed.

Arborist, Steve Nimz says,"Our job was to take a look and pick the highest risk trees to eliminate or prune them back so they wouldn't conflict with the roadway."

"Trees like the one behind us, which is a gunpowder tree is a very fast growing tree."

"And it is not a strong tree, so the branches break and fail easily."

It's something Nimz has already done.
He's also surveyed and marked trees for pruning and removal along the Likelike and Pali Highways.
As was the case on those projects the state is working alongside the outdoor circle to ensure only trees that are need to be removed are.

"Trees are a valuable public resource, not only from an esthetic point of view. they enhance the quality of our life, but they also do a lot of things for the environment, cleaning our air, keeping storm water out of the storm water systems," says Bob Loy of Outdoor Circle.

"We want to have a fair assessment. we want to make sure outdoor circle is on board with us as well. Because there is kind of a fair balance that we're both working on by maintaining the beauty of H-3, but also the safety of motorists," says Mori.

The project is expected to get underway on November 3rd, and should be finished by early February.