Anyone driving in Sausalito has been on Bridgeway Boulevard, the main north-south artery divided by 10′ wide planted beds.  Thanks to a collaboration between the City and Sausalito Beautiful, many of these medians were rejuvenated between 2015-2018.  Dead trees and plants were removed, while new drought tolerant bushes and plants were added.  All told, over 2,300 linear feet of medians were revitalized!

Today, the Bridgeway medians are looking green and healthy, with seasonal splashes of color.  Before, they had become scruffy and weed-covered while many of the trees were not very healthy. The first step in this project was to assess the health and long-term viability of the existing landscaping. In 2014, Questa Engineering and its arborist delivered a 30-page report focused on trees, revealing for example that the poor health of many trees was due to insufficient planting depth since portions of the medians were built on top of existing pavement.

At the urging of Sausalito Beautiful, the City acted upon the Questa report findings and as a result the trees on the Bridgeway corridor are much healthier.  All sycamore trees on the medians were either pruned and treated to achieve more controlled growth, or were removed because they were dead or nearly so.  Also at the north end of town, the sycamores on either side of Bridgeway were similarly cared for (or removed), while the ash trees were pruned.

Did you know that Wednesday is Median Day for the maintenance crew?  Most Wednesdays you will see the orange-vested crew in the middle of Bridgeway doing weeding, mulching, trimming and generally beautifying our medians.  Give them a wide berth, then honk and a wave to show your appreciation.

Median Six

In late 2017, the median to the north of the intersection of Bridgeway and Spring Street was completely replanted with private funds coming  from Sausalito Beautiful’s donor pool, Sloat Garden Center, Jon Lam, State Farm Insurance, First California Realty, and a generous anonymous donor.

New plants on Bridgeway Median Six include Aloe, Manzanita, California Lilac, California Poppy, Cape Mendocino Reed Grass, and a variety of small succulents. There are no trees in this median and the plants are quite low in order to maximize visibility when turning from Olive Street onto Bridgeway. The plants are complemented by Sonoma Fieldstone boulders. The design of Median Six is a continuation of the concept used for the recent improvements of Bolinar Plaza and Bridgeway Medians Three and Four (north and south of Harbor Drive).

Sausalito Beautiful directed the project in concert with Public Works Division Manager Loren Umbertis of the City of Sausalito. Tom Wilhite of Green Man Garden Design served as landscape designer and project manager.

Median Five

This median hosts many mature agapanthus plants, which have gorgeous blue flowers in summer. Many dead or dying trees were removed from this median and not replaced due to insufficient soil depth.

Medians Three and Four

Renovations to the medians on either side of Harbor Drive were completed in early 2017. Many of the shrubs were saved, while the ground covers were replaced.