A city crew was at work this past week cutting down and removing two trees that were creating a hazard with the nearby sidewalk on Railroad Avenue.

Workers on site pointed out the roots had lifted the sidewalk about six inches, in front of the former Ming Lee Chinese Restaurant, near the intersection with Patterson Road.

Although not officially a part of the coming street alignment there, the scheduled road work at the intersection this year will end up with stop lights that are synchronized with the nearby BNSF railroad crossing on Patterson Road.

Presently, morning and evening traffic in the area backs up for blocks as commuters travel Patterson as one of three routes to get from Highway 99 to Oakdale or Waterford and back again to work, especially when trains cross the road there.

In addition to the root problem, recently, Public Works crews have noticed a small homeless camp had been accumulating in the shrubbery around one of the trees. This removal also became an opportunity to eliminate that issue.

The city Public Works Department is planning soon to remove, then rebuild the sidewalk.