Expect delays on west slope of Highway 50 as dead trees are removed

Dead trees along Highway 50 will be removed over the next few weeks, requiring Caltrans to intermittently close portions of the road between Pollock Pines and Camino.

An emergency $3.2 million contract with Doug Veerkamp General Engineering to in response to the thousands of trees impacted by the drought and the bark beetle infestation all across California. The project in El Dorado County is one of several ongoing to address motorist safety.

Large trees will be removed on both eastbound and westbound sides of Highway 50 during daytime hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday over the next three weeks. Motorists should expect delays of up to 15 minutes.

To date 180 trees have been removed on this project and Caltrans anticipates about 2,000 to be cut down by the time the work concludes next spring or early summer.

The district will issue updates on its Twitter and Facebook accounts. For real-time traffic conditions, use the Caltrans QuickMap tool at http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/.