Caltrans is working with the offices of City Councilwoman Jean Quan, state Assemblywoman Wilma Chan and state Sen. Don Perata to install a large "flower box" made of parallel concrete barriers with dirt fill and plants between them.

This planter-style median will be 10 to 12 feet wide, and will cover about 1 mile of the affected area, according to Caltrans District 4 spokesman Robert Haus.

Caltrans changed the median between Moraga Avenue and Joaquin Miller Road as a cost-saving measure. The concrete barrier is relatively maintenance free and easy to repair, Haus said, and the asphalt can be easily swept by a machine.

The previous incarnation, with metal guardrails and sporadic plant growth, required workers to go in and remove trash by hand -- something Caltrans officials say is both expensive and dangerous. Sections where the roadways are significantly different in height were not affected by the recent work, nor was the stretch leading into Berkeley that does not include a wide median.

When work started in the summer, many hills residents had misgivings as they saw plants disappear. Adding to the frustration was the fact that the changes came on the heels of a drive to secure an official State Scenic Route designation for the highway, which would keep the area free of billboards and over-development. Plus, some residents have felt that Caltrans acted in stealth, possibly because of the community's successful effort to thwart construction of sound walls along the same corridor in 2002.

Caltrans, a state agency, is under no obligation to hold public meetings on such projects. But many residents say they should have been involved, at least as a show of good faith.

"They sort of did this without informing the community," said Richard Cowan, Quan's chief of staff. "We got involved, because no one else was," he said. "But now it's in the hands of (the state officials)."

How much of the median gets new vegetation is largely dependent on these officials.

"The agreement was that the legislative offices would handle the plants," said Amy Costa, Perata's chief of staff. "We're still coming up with ways to raise money."

Both Costa and Rachel Richmond, Chan's spokeswoman, said they will continue to work closely with Quan.

"Obviously money is a constraint, but we're trying to work around that," Richmond said. "We're looking for funds, Perata's looking for funds, Jean Quan has offered to put in money ... we're looking in every possible local, state and federal pot for money."

The cost will be around $700,000, said Haus. He said the agency is aiming to complete the median project by March and understands "it's not very pretty at the moment."

"It doesn't look real good now, but nothing in the middle of construction does," Haus said. He said that the finished product should not be a barrier to getting the scenic route designation.