Southeast : Freeway Drivers Have It Made in the Shade With New Pines

With 24 parks and 30,000 trees within its nine square miles, Cerritos prides itself on maintaining a park-like atmosphere. But now the city has even provided shade for freeway commuters. City workers recently uprooted a dozen full-grown Canary Island pine trees to make way for a new sheriff’s substation next to City Hall. Instead of sending them off to a landfill, the trees were replanted near the northbound 605 Freeway exit at South Street.

“Overnight, this little forest appeared [by the freeway],” city spokeswoman Annie Luger said, adding that the area around it is off-limits to pedestrians.