The city of Poway has begun cutting down about 2,700 diseased or dead trees to clear debris, particularly along key evacuation routes, in the event of a wildfire.

The project is years in the making, funded mostly by about $2 million in FEMA Hazardous Tree Removal Mitigation grants. The primary areas where the trees will be removed are along Twin Peaks Road between Pomerado and Midland roads, Espola Road between Valle Verde Road and Titan Way, and the Green Valley open-space area.

The trees slated for removal have been marked with spray-painted dots: White was the first analysis, then blue for a second pass. The city said the risk of the trees are two-fold: flammability in a wildfire, and if they were to fall and block the evacuation routes during an emergency.

“It absolutely could be a

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