Plan to reduce congestion, upgrade Camp Rich campsites
By Kathryn Reed
Reconfiguring the three sections of the Camp Richardson Campground, making the road leading to the Beacon Restaurant more efficient, reducing congestion in the area, and removing parking from dirt areas along Highway 89 are the major components of a multi-million dollar, multi-year project the U.S. Forest Service wants to undertake.
The federal agency is taking public comment on the 79-acre project until Aug. 8.
Campsites at Camp Rich are slated to be improved by the USFS. Photos/Kathryn Reed
But the homeowners on Jameson Beach Road are not happy with the proposal because some believe their needs are not being met. This is the road that goes from Highway 89 by the cabins to the Beacon and then turns right to the residences.
Daniel Cressy, who is in charge of the project for the Forest Service, said the last meeting regarding the Jameson Road issue was Thursday, but there is still uncertainty over who owns the road. He told Lake Tahoe News his agency is looking into the issue.
Jameson Beach Road residents are doing research, too.
At issue is whether the residents own the road or have an easement or right-of-way to use it to get to their property. The houses were there long before the Forest Service acquired the land in the 1960s. There also used to be another route to get to the houses, which the USFS has closed off. That was next to the general store.
Both sides agree congestion is horrible in that area.
Cressy said the proposal calls for having homeowners have an ID that would allow them to get home without enduring the backup at the parking kiosk. This would also entail widening the road to legally allow for cars to pass to the right.
A bike-pedestrian trail will be put in along Jameson Beach Road with easy access for people parking on the road so people and vehicles are not using the same strip of asphalt, as is the case now.
Four alternatives are being proposed in the environmental assessment. One is the standard to do nothing. Alternative 2 is the one the agency would like adopted.
With the campgrounds, all alternatives call for a reduction in sites from the 325 that are now available.
“As we redevelop the campsite to meet modern accessibility standards and vehicle radius turning, the campsites take more space (based on) how campsites are currently configured,” Cressy explained. “Now they are tucked in wherever they can fit.”
New bathrooms will be available this summer.
Alternative 2 calls for 253 campsites. Up to 170 of those would have sewer-water hook-ups. The majority would accommodate six people, with some designed for 12 and others for groups of 24.
Cressy said feedback from users reflects a changing demographic for camping – bigger groups, more RVs.
Moving the check-in for the campgrounds out of the main commercial area is designed to reduce congestion.
Work on the campgrounds could begin next summer. Without specific engineering and design work, it’s unknown today if this would take two seasons.
Instead of needing a four-wheel drive to pull into the campground, the road will be improved, defined routes (instead of driving through the forest), and identifiable spurs for campers will be installed.
To accomplish this and other components of the proposal about 1,000 trees are slated to be felled – with about 40 of those being more than 30-inches in diameter.
Cressy acknowledges this sounds like a lot, but said to make the campground function – which includes having a fire truck be able to come and go – trees need to come out. He also said the density of some areas makes this no different than a thinning project.
Millions of dollars in improvements are proposed by the USFS.
Having more transit stops and ones off the highway to allow the flow of traffic to continue are being proposed.
Restrooms are part of the project, too. Those are in addition to the two facilities that will be open later this summer. (They replace ones built in the 1960s.)
One will be by the beach to replace the port-a-potty near the cabins.
Funding initially will come from Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act money. Cressy roughly estimates about $2 million worth of work could take place in 2012, with another $1.5 million in work the following year.
The entire project could cost between $10 million and $15 million. Cressy stressed this is not a hard figure by any means. He also said funding for the project is not secured. Oftentimes dollars are not available until the environmental review is finished.
Once the public weighs-in, the agency assesses the comments to see if more work is needed. The forest supervisor has ultimate authority in signing off on the document.
Components of the proposed action plan that will affect the masses who use or drive through the Camp Rich area – which is about three miles north of the Y in South Lake Tahoe on Highway 89 – include eliminating the free parking in the dirt along the highway.
More defined parking areas on Jameson Beach Road will be installed.
With all of this will come better filtration of stormwater runoff to reduce sediment flowing into nearby Lake Tahoe.
Other parking areas will be built.
Congestion like this on July 9 may be reduced.
The bike trail that crosses Jameson Beach Road close to the highway will remain because it acts as a sidewalk as well. But cyclists will be directed to a new path that will go behind the general store on one side of the beach road and behind the lodge on the other side.
User-created trails in the Pope Marsh area will be decommissioned, with the most logical ones being revamped to encourage they be the only ones used.
The trail design is being worked on with the Forest Service employees who are involved in the larger bike-pedestrian plan being formulated for the area that goes to Fallen Leaf Lake Road. (That document is slated to be released in the fall for public review.)
The current document is online as well as at the USFS office at 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe. Questions may be directed to Cressy at (530) 544.2857 or dcressy@fs.fed.us.
Crazy! First I read that they are eliminating parking along Hwy 89 and then that a path to ease access for those parking on Hwy 89 is being added. Decommissioning of old trails is to ignore more efficient routes. Why not create parking along the hwy that is safe and will deal with the run-off.
When will the Forest Service try managing the issue rather than complicating it? We need this kind of attraction in Tahoe over Casinos and other fading interests.
My two cents.
-Local Yokle
Will have to look at all the proposals, though it sounds as if they’ve already made their decision.
Something certainly needs to be done. Last weekend traffic was backed up all the way to the four lanes on Emerald Bay Rd and there was a policeman directing car and pedestrian traffic. Absurd.
Filtering sediment before going into nearby lake Tahoe.? They will probably pave the whole thing and increase stormwater volumes tenfold.. 10-15 million is allot of money.. The water is currently filtered in pope marsh..
It took us 1/2 hour to drive from 15th Street to Valhalla on July 3! Amazing. We never knew why it was taking so long, bumper to bumper all the way……Thanks for exploring this issue and how to solve it!
Some of our towns worse traffic issues our in this area, glad it is being addressed finally.
Residents of Jameson Beach Road should have their own entrance.
There should be some free parking, maybe far away, thus justifying pay parking up close.
Place can definitely use some campground upgrades, much has improved since this place was originally laid out.
I’m glad improvements will be made for more efficient handling of traffic and parking. My hope is that the campground doesn’t become a see of asphalt for RV’s, and that the appeal of the natural beauty of the forest is maintained. The campground should blend and disappear into the forest, not become the focal point.
This is why I steer clear of this area. It would be nice if they had a pedestrian lane along the bike lane. It can get absolutely crazy trying to navigate a bike down the current path.
I’ve seen some of the early design plans for the campground and the majority of sites are large pull-through RV sites that are in rows. It looks like they may in fact turn Camp Richardson into a ‘sea of RV’s’.
How beneficial to the overall camping experience and to Lake Tahoe will more giant RV’s in the Basin be?
How about an overpass for at least pedestrians, and maybe bikes as well, so traffic doesn’t have to stop every 40 seconds to let someone cross, and on a busy day, it’s hard to let any cars through, as the pedestrian flow is pretty much non-stop.
Taking out old growth trees is a very bad idea for many, many reasons with which the Forest Service is well acquainted. They can get more money for the old growth trees, is the thing. It will be better for the forest if they take out small trees and work the campsites and roads around the trees. Forcing the forest to conform to our human activities is killing great numbers of older trees while resulting in great swaths of white firs, which have become nuisance trees in many areas and pose a huge fire risk.
I approve of making the forest and the lake available to people who can’t afford homes, cabins or hotels, but Camp Rich is out of control. It certainly isn’t pleasant for drivers passing through on 89, and I can’t believe it’s all that great for the campers, either, being crowded into all those sites. Better to reduce the number of sites. If people can’t get to Tahoe one year they can get there another and meanwhile utilize state parks and less well-known, but lovely, national parks. There’s so much to see in CA and NV. Why does everyone have to converge on Tahoe???
Know, contrary to whatever you belive that there is good money in selling the lumber from old growth trees it’s not. The only money anyone makes is from the price of dropping the trees. The mills are almost all closed and they won’t even take lumber right now. A typical price for a load of trees (33 foot or 16’6″ length)used to bring about $3600, now you are lucky if you can even give them to the mills. I am a tree service contractor here in Tahoe and I can tell you I ain’t no millionare from selling trees to the mill.