Marin Co. Firm Lands $510K Project at Charles M. Schulz Airport

SONOMA COUNTY, CA – The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has approved a $510,000 landscaping project at the U.S. Highway 101 and Airport Boulevard interchange north of Santa Rosa.

More than 600 trees, many of them redwoods, were removed during the improvement of the busy interchange at the highway exit to the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport.

The 176 trees are the last phase of the replanting project that also includes 1,700 trees along Mark West Creek.

The Board of Supervisors awarded the $510,522 landscaping contract to Bortolussi & Watkin Inc. of San
Rafael.

Voters approved Measure M in 2004 which provided money for transportation improvements.

The final replanting project will begin in June and should be completed in the fall depending on when the plants are received, according to Rebecca Wachsberg of the Sonoma County Administrator's Office.

The project includes planting, irrigation, installation and a three-year establishment period for the Coast Live Oak, Coast Redwood, olive, cypress and Crepe Myrtle trees. The replanting must meet drought-resistance
requirements and will use recycled water provided by the Sonoma County Water Agency.

The project is in Supervisor James Gore's 4th District.

"The County's Department of Transportation and Public Works has done a phenomenal job implementing the final improvements of the Airport Boulevard interchange," Gore said.

"Once again, visitors coming from the nearby Sonoma County Airport, residents traveling to work at the Airport Business Park and commuters traveling on Highway 101 will encounter a lush and drought-tolerant landscape that fully embraces our environment," Gore said.

• ALSO SEE: SFO Closes Runway for 9 Weekends for Repaving

--Bay City News/Image courtesy of Charles M Schulz-Sonoma County Airport-STS