Despite Protests, Plans To Fell Oak Tree Remain

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will move ahead with plans to remove a popular valley oak tree in unincorporated Menlo Park, nicknamed "Granny," to make way for a water pipeline, a spokeswoman said.

Residents gathered this morning around the 100-foot-tall tree on 15th Avenue in a North Fair Oaks neighborhood to protest plans to cut it down. Workers are likely to move forward next week, SFPUC spokeswoman Maureen Barry said.

The tree's removal is part of a $320 million seismic upgrade to the region's Hetch Hetchy water delivery system, which supplies water from Yosemite National Park to millions of homes and businesses throughout the Bay Area.

"Those are the pipelines that bring all of the water to the San Mateo County area and San Francisco, 100 percent," Barry said.

Engineers for the project looked into alternative plans to cutting the tree down, Barry said, including installing a subterranean portion of pipeline that would run beneath the oak tree's roots.

Project managers determined the pipeline could not run underneath the tree without endangering the stability of the pipe and jeopardizing the safety of the water supply for most of San Mateo County and all of the city of San Francisco, Barry said.

"It's probably just as disturbing to the project team as it is to the neighbors," Barry said.

Crews will likely be assembled to cut the tree down some time next week, Barry said.

—Bay City News