South Land Park, Jan. 30, 2023
Tree removal continued north of Sutterville Rd. today, with excavators running very close to homes along Darnel Way. A construction supervisor told me the railroad embankment will be widened here by 10-12 feet, and the trail will be built below the level of the railway but above the ground level of nearby homes.
To make that possible, most of the trees on the west side of the tracks are being removed. The trees on the east side, between the embankment and the Land Park Little League baseball fields, will remain intact.
The vacant lot at Darnel Way and Riverside Blvd. will eventually become one of the Gathering Places along the trail. This week, the lot is filled with downed trees, a massive woodchipping machine, and piles of steaming mulch.
The supervisor also said the bridge over I-5 will be widened to make room for the trail, and that the tracks will continue to be used by trains between Old Sacramento and Sutterville.
Correction: A crew member from Evergreen doing the removal corrected my previous assertion that “all” trees would be removed from the west side of the tracks. In fact, some trees are being left in place, and the trail will be built around them.
