Towering tree fell in Modesto park in January. Why is city only now removing it?
One resident said the sound of the towering pine tree falling in Modesto’s Pike Park was like a freight train roaring through her neighborhood. Another resident said it sounded like a bomb exploding.
The tree fell nearly three months ago in the dead of night during a late January storm. And as of Thursday it rested along the grass on the north side of Pike Park where Del Valle Avenue dead ends. Pike Park is just east of where Carver Road and Ninth Street meet.
The two women, who declined to give their names, live near the park and said Thursday the downed tree is an eyesore, hazard and attracts homeless people and addicts who can hide in the hollow created by the fallen tree and its branches.
“I feel like unfortunately,” one of the women said, “a lot of the homeless have taken it as their way of just kind of going back there and doing I don’t know what. ... It would be a lot easier if it wasn’t there because it wouldn’t give people a reason to try to like hang out around it.”
The tree also damaged a nearby streetlight as it fell so Del Valle Avenue near the park is now dark at night. Del Valle connects to an alley that runs parallel to the park. The woman said the number of people who hang out there at night and drink has grown now that the streetlight is out.
The two women asked why the city still hasn’t removed the tree and repaired the streetlight. A city official said that work was scheduled to start Friday. The official added the city has to prioritize work on its trees, focusing on those that pose the greatest risk first.
The tree was gone by Friday afternoon and a new streetlight had been installed.
Flooded streets, downed utility lines
The Bee reported in late January about a storm that blew through Stanislaus County then, resulting in hundreds of calls to public safety workers for fallen trees and limbs that damaged property and blocked roadways, downed utility poles and lines that caused power failures, street flooding, rock slides and more.
Modesto Deputy City Manager Caluha Barnes said in a Thursday statement removing the fallen tree had been scheduled for a while, but city crews have prioritized downed trees based on their threat to life and safety in order to manage their work and overtime.
“As you know,” she said in an email, “the tree in Pike Park was among many that came down during the January storms.“
Modesto officials have spoken about the city not having the resources to adequately maintain its urban forest.
Falling trees, branches and limbs damaging cars, roofs and other private property are among the most common claims residents file against the city.
This story was originally published April 17, 2021 at 3:00 AM.
