The state Department of Transportation has decided to halt — at least for now — a tree removal project along H-2 Freeway that The Outdoor Circle said prompted more complaints than any tree-cutting effort in years.

Transportation officials have decided to stop the project until they meet with The Outdoor Circle, which has requested that work be put on hold until their concerns are resolved. The meeting could occur this week or next week, said department spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

"We're willing to sit down with The Outdoor Circle and hear their concerns," Ishikawa said. "We want to give them our reasons as well and come up with a solution here."

The department has removed more than 50 trees along H-2 Freeway since June and planned to cut down more than two dozen more by the time the project is scheduled to end in September.

The department said the trees, nearly all non-native albizzia, posed a safety hazard for drivers and that they will be replaced with sturdier native trees by the end of the year. It has said that only trees determined to be a hazard are being removed.

REMOVALS DISPUTED

But The Outdoor Circle, which said it has received more than 100 complaints about the project, is skeptical that all the trees targeted for removal are safety hazards and need to be cut down. The organization wants its own independent arborist to assess the trees, said Bob Loy, The Outdoor Circle's director of environmental programs.

"We don't necessarily believe that the right trees are being removed in the right places," he said. "We want to make sure that if the DOT is going to be removing trees on the H-2 that they only remove trees that pose an actual hazard."

He said some trees may just need to be pruned rather than cut down. Some Mililani Mauka residents have also complained that the trees provided a sound buffer between the freeway and their homes, he said.

"We've received more complaints about this tree removal than any tree removal project in the last five years at least," Loy said.

Loy said the city and state usually contact The Outdoor Circle and give the organization an arborist's report before tree removal projects.

HAZARDS TO DRIVERS

Ishikawa said in this case the department went ahead with the work without consulting with the organization "because we felt it was a safety issue."

He said an albizzia branch fell on and damaged an emergency call box in June and that the department's certified arborist on staff and a certified arborist with its landscaping contractor inspected the trees.

"The branches were hanging way over the freeway or the trunks were hollow" and in danger of toppling, Ishikawa said.

Ishikawa added that the DOT will meet with The Outdoor Circle to discuss trees that are in "poor health" and may need to be trimmed or removed along H-3 Freeway, Likelike Highway and Pali Highway.

The trees that have already been removed in the mauka-bound direction on H-2 posed the most immediate risk, but officials are also worried that others on a slope on the makai-bound side may also eventually topple over, Ishikawa said.

"We're trying to be proactive and take care of a safety issue," he said.

Loy said he saw the contractor cutting trees again yesterday on H-2, after which Outdoor Circle CEO Mary Steiner contacted DOT deputy director Brennan Morioka. Morioka apologized and said the stop order would be passed down, Loy said.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.