Caltrans making Echo Summit safer

Trees tumble off Echo Summit to make it safer for drivers. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Expect trees and rocks to be tumbling down off Echo Summit onto Highway 50 for the next month.

This is because Caltrans is trying to make the roadway safer for motorists so slides don’t occur.

The month-long project started Sept. 30.

“We are clearing out trees 15 feet from the top to put in a cable mesh system,” explained Scott Feri, Caltrans superintendent. “It keeps the rocks from coming into the road.”

Forty-two trees from three sites along the summit that leads into South Lake Tahoe will be removed. Feri described them as mostly little trees.

Expect traffic delays while the work is being done. The inside lane is closed off while workers on the top of the slope cut trees and let them, and subsequently loose rock, fall onto the highway.