Massive project begins on Fox Street as crews begin removing about 70 trees

 The short drive between the two major thoroughfares is one of Lemoore’s most picturesque drives, but 20 or more years of tree growth has uplifted sidewalks and created numerous problems on the local road.

Works began cutting down trees on Fox Street.

The years-long growth has damaged sidewalks enough to warrant city action, which means spending upwards of $285,000 to fix the problem, which will include removing trees and replacing many sidewalks.

“Fox Street has become a very hot topic on my desk,” said Public Works Director Nathan Olson who brought up the issue at a recent council meeting. City leaders decided to spend the money to fix the problem, adding that that portion of Fox is heavily traveled. “It’s a huge walking area. There have been a lot of complaints regarding the condition of the sidewalks,” said Olson.

Olson detailed the damage including trees uplifting sidewalks. “Those trees have damaged curb and gutter and sidewalks,” he said. The root cause of the problem are roots – the kind that over the years manage to grow beneath or adjacent to the sidewalks, forcing them up. Most of the sidewalks between Cinnamon and Hanford Armona Road have experienced uplifting. “There are some serious trip hazards,” he added.

The key to fixing the problem is to remove about 70 trees and fix the sidewalks, work that began this week. Councilmembers awarded the work to Packaging Pro Tech, Inc. also known as Rockeez Engineering in the amount of $285,025 for the base bid, plus an additional $15,000 in contingency funds.

The project’s scope is impressive, and in addition to removing 70 trees, the city will replace upwards of 11,000 square feet of sidewalk and make 485 linear feet of curb and gutter repairs. The city will utilize $150,000 from the Local Transportation Share Fund as well as handicap street funds for $150,000.