Letter to the Editor: El Camino Real Median Work Will Ruin Downtown

Editor's Note: The city has begun to remodel several medians along El Camino Real as part of an ongoing effort to beautify the city. Work includes removing old trees, planting new trees and shrubs, and installing water-efficient irrigation systems. The costs for the project come mostly from the federal grants the city received when The Crossing was developed. Of the estimated $1 million construction costs, 75 percent has been funded by those federal grants, according to the city. In 2009, six medians on El Camino Real had a similar facelift.

The following letter to the editor comes from an El Camino Real business owner who reacted to the recent median work she saw.

We are so disappointed with what San Bruno decided to do with extra monies concerning the the project that is installing new landscaping and irrigation systems along El Camino Real! 

There was NO need WHATSOEVER to spend money on this project!! The same project was done five years ago!! The trees were mature along with the flowering plants and wildlife galore! 

Today, pulling into our parking lot, I saw that the trees that would normally be filled with nesting birds are GONE!! NO consideration for the trees. Now dead. The birds (babies), now dead. And the flowering plants are now dead. 

Soon El Camino Real will look like San Mateo Avenue: DEAD.

—Mary An Stanley, Owner,

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