CENTRAL POINT — A long-awaited sidewalk between Central Point Elementary School and City Hall will protect more than the young pedestrians for whom it was built.

A first for the growing city, the rubber sidewalk along Third Street between Ash and Alder streets will protect three large trees that might have suffered had concrete been poured above sprawling root systems.

The sidewalk is made from recycled tires, polyurethane and resin colorant. City arborist Pat Randall learned of the technology from Gardena, Calif.-based Rubbersidewalks at a conference in recent months.

In planning sidewalks near City Hall to keep students off roadways, public works crews dug test trenches to locate the root systems for several large trees, including one Randall dubbed the "enchanted cedar of downtown" near Third and Alder.

Pouring concrete above the root areas, Randall said, would have prompted the trees to develop aggressive, invasive roots that would cause cracks in the sidewalk or would have stressed the trees to the point of sickness or death.

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For maintenance, rubber sidewalk sections can be removed for root trimmings or other needed access.

Should sections pop up due to pressure from roots, the problem can be resolved quickly and the sidewalk put back in place.

Public Works Director Bob Pierce said rubber sidewalks are similar to traditional concrete with the exception of shipping costs. Once crews learn basic installation, labor costs for rubber sidewalks should be far cheaper than concrete.

"It's just a great idea," Pierce said. "There a learning curve the first time, but there's no curing like with regular concrete and it can be used immediately."

Identical on both sides, each side provides some 16 to 20 years of use.

"When one side wears out, you just flip them over and you're back in business," Pierce said.

Grange Co-Op offered to fund the necessary $7,000 in materials.

"We wanted to do an improvement project with the city and (Community Development Director) Tom Humphrey mentioned that this was a project that needed funding," said Grange Co-Op General Manager Barry Robino.

"When we found out we might be able to use some new technology and test the benefits of that, it just added to our desire."

In addition to the Grange, Robino said two vendors, Land-O-Lakes and Jerry Brown Co., contributed funding.

Perhaps most pleased with the city's efforts to protect the giant cedar and neighboring trees was homeowner Bettelu Harper, whose parents planted the towering cedar in the early 1940s.

While Harper is quite fond of her landmark tree, she said she didn't worry when sidewalks were proposed for her front yard.

Randall informed her of the project and treated her tree roots to minimize stress during sidewalk installation.

"She came right over and assured me they were going to do all they could to make sure that the tree was going to survive," Harper said.

"I'm anxious for the sidewalks to go in. I didn't particularly care whether I had them or not but they're safer for the children."

Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at buffypollock@juno.com.