Ax Falls for Sake of Autos : Safety: County cuts trees despite protest, saying they were too close to Live Oak Canyon Road.

TRABUCO CANYON —  Over the protest of some Trabuco Canyon residents, county crews on Wednesday cut down four large trees that were targeted as safety hazards on a winding country road known for its canopy of old oak trees.

County officials said it was necessary to make Live Oak Canyon Road, one of the most dangerous rural stretches in Orange County, safer by removing three oak trees and one sycamore sitting at the roadway’s edge. The oak trees were 50 to 100 years old.

Upset residents of the canyon, however, say that speeding on the narrow, two-lane road is the real hazard, not the beloved trees.

“I drive that road every day,” said resident Allison Dale. “These trees are not a hazard if you drive the 35 m.p.h. limit as posted.”

In an effort to save the trees and catch the attention of County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, Trabuco Canyon resident Ray Chandos placed signs on the targeted trunks Sunday night reading: “To be cut down Wednesday. Ask Gaddi why.”

“We wanted certainly to register our opposition,” Chandos said. “A lot of the locals around here are saying, ‘why not enforce the speed limit rather than taking out the trees?’ ”

Vasquez, whose jurisdiction includes the road, said that he received only a handful of calls at his office because of the protest signs and that people were understanding when informed of the safety concerns.

“All (the) staff is trying to do is address the safety issue,” Vasquez said.

He stressed that there are no plans to cut down more trees along the road. Also, in place of the four felled trees, county workers will plant 38 oaks and 13 sycamores in safer places off the roadway to preserve the area’s rural character. Twelve of those 51 trees are almost full-grown, officials said.

The four trees cut down Wednesday, which were all 20 to 30 feet high, were originally destined for removal in the 1991 Foothill/Trabuco Specific Plan adopted by the Board of Supervisors to guide development and growth in the area.

About 4,700 auto trips a day are made along the road, officials said. The capacity of the road is designed for 4,500 average daily trips.

“Live Oak Canyon Road is a very dangerous road, it’s one of the most dangerous roads in the county,” said Thomas B. Mathews, director of planning for the County Environmental Management Agency. “Unfortunately, there’s only one way to improve the safety of that highway and that is to take out some of the trees that are closest to the road.”

Removing the trees was the last and largest part of an estimated $200,000 safety improvement project involving a 1.5-mile stretch of the roadway near O’Neill Regional Park. The project included repaving and re-striping the roadway, improving signs, adding lights and placing reflectors down the middle of the road.

Although it’s not known if the four trees were ever involved in an accident, they were making it difficult for motorists to see down the roadway, Mathews said.