Expect delays on Tahoe roads starting now
Publisher’s note: This is one of a few stories about construction planned for the Lake Tahoe Basin this summer.
By Kathryn Reed
Work on Highway 89 between Tahoma and Tahoe City started Tuesday. And it won’t be done until October 2016.
Caltrans will have many of the highways in the Lake Tahoe Basin torn up this construction season in what are mostly water quality projects. Besides putting in systems to keep sediment from reaching Lake Tahoe other benefits for motorists and cyclists are also part of the plans.
The work that started April 9 is Southwest Gas contractors moving the natural gas lines before Caltrans comes in to do its roadwork. The project started last year and came with a ton of complaints. Much of that had to do with the delays getting around the West Shore as well as the large metal plates in the road. Though, delays and metal plates will be seen this year, too.
Caltrans will be doing a number of projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin this season. Photo/LTN file
That contractor from Texas had not worked in the basin before and is not coming back – at least on this project.
“We hope it goes smoother than last summer,” Steve Nelson with Caltrans said.
The Southwest crews will be working from Pine Street in Tahoma to Timberland Lane near Chambers Landing.
It’s possible between the two Southwest contractors and the Caltrans gang people could face three delays on this stretch of road. Nelson said the delays should not be more than 20 minutes at any given stop. (This is for all of the Department of Transportation’s Tahoe projects.) But if someone is stopped at each section of this project, that could add an hour to the trip.
“Each project has traffic-control specifications the contractor has to follow, but in general it’s accurate to say that night work will be conducted during the peak season from July 1 through Labor Day, but there will be daytime work during the non-peak months of May, June, September and October. No weekend work starting Friday at 9am (peak) or Friday at 11am (non-peak) and no holiday work,” Nelson told Lake Tahoe News.
Caltrans will be putting in nine sand vaults to collect and filter stormwater runoff. They will start on the south end of Highway 89 in May. By 2016, the work will culminate in Tahoe City.
The road will be widened and repaved, curbs and gutters installed, and some left turn lanes installed. This is a $34 million project that is federally funded.
Caltrans has a meeting set for April 18 with the West Shore Business Association to address any lingering concerns.
Tahoe City Public Utility District in 2015 will be the project leader for a multi-use trail adjacent to Highway 89 between Trout Street and Cherry Street.
South Shore projects
Landscaping is the last thing that remains to be done for the Trout Creek to Ski Run Boulevard project that tied up traffic in South Lake Tahoe for the last two summers. An official dedication of the project will be sometime this summer.
Caltrans will be back at work on Highway 50 from 1,200 feet west of Ski Run to Wildwood Avenue. This $7 million project will include widening the road to provide a 6-foot shoulder for cyclists.
Curbs, gutters, sidewalks and stormwater treatment systems will be installed.
Work should begin May 1 and is likely to be finished in one building season.
Starting at Lake Tahoe Airport and going to the Y is a $12.4 million project that is expected to take two summers to complete.
Where the road is two lanes it will be widened to provide 3- to 4-foot shoulders for bikes. Curbs and gutters will be added, along with storm filtration systems.
The section of highway that is four lanes will have sidewalks installed. This is the commercial area.
Other projects
The $21 million Meyers project is not expected to start until next year.
The same goes for the Y to Cascade Lakes work along Highway 89.
Work in Kings Beach on Highway 28 is a Placer County project, with oversight by Caltrans. Utility crews are already working.
More info about Caltrans’ Tahoe projects may be found online.
$ 40 Million for “cyclists”. And my street is falling apart. Great.
This is extremely helpful information. Thank you for compiling it.
Super exciting that they are widening Hwy 50 where we have the “bike friendly” sign to actually make that (incredibly dangerous) stretch bike friendly after all. Thanks for the information. If you don’t like “cyclists” try to keep in mind that every bike you see is one less car you are waiting behind in traffic.
Great lets back-up traffic for hundreds of thousands of motorist to make it better for a couple hundred bicyclists.
I didn’t say I didn’t like cyclists. I just see a disproportionate amount of money going to a very small group of people. Of course there are additional benefits.
If you don’t like opinions, try to keep in mind that if you don’t post yours, that will be one less set of incorrect assumptions that someone else will have to read. If you had any idea of my efforts to improve bike trails in our area, you would not make such assumptions.
ummmm, its a general improvement by caltrans (not SLT pub works or El D) that were preplanned and paid for by state taxes on gas for the improvements. There was a open forum discussion at some point and if you didn’t like the plan you should have spoken up at that time.
The improvements just happen to include bike lanes, because the powers said screw it why not try and make this a nicer place to live while we fix up the roads, fix the sidewalks put in curbs, put in storm drains to protect the lake all that jazz. Because oh wait, when the government improves infrastructure they found people are happier, it attracts tourists revenue, and free bunnies for everyone! (wait I made that last part up)
Cal Trans is always in a catch 22, if they don’t do anything they are crucified for not doing anything, if they do something they are crucified for the costs, the delays, that it wasn’t on someone else’s street (that they incidentally aren’t responsible to fix), not to mention the poor flaggers who are vilified for doing their job.
Lastly by fixing up the side of the roads makes travel safer for everyone, kinda nice while you are driving, to not have some kid on a bike to hit, or a pedestrian. And even if you aren’t the driver its nice to not have your life ruined, medical bills you can’t pay (which gets transferred to the rest of us one way or another) should there be an accident.
Give em a break. Yes delays suck. Everything is expensive. You may not personally benefit or see personal improvement. But roads need to be fixed, we pay for these repairs via gas taxes. Let them work.
wow, I got censored for using the same word that is an item I could buy at a hardware store. Ummm verbs I guess aren’t cool but nouns are.
Riding a Bicycle around Lake Tahoe is a Bucket list item for many.
I first rode around the Lake in 1973 at the age of 12. The scary part of the trip was the West Shore from around Emerald Bay to Homewood. Very dangerous. that area is still a crap shoot on a bike.
Its nice to see this addressed.
Louis nicely put. Too many people think that state highway money should go into city streets, which will never happen. We are lucky that our main street is a Federal Highway otherwise it would really look bad right now. A complaint we always hear is that our town looks dumpy, well good curbs and sidewalks will go a long way to improve the looks of our town.
Sidewalks will look good if the snow is removed from them in Winter. Not used as the place to plow the snow onto in winter. Time will tell
Lets see…a $7 milliion dollar project(not 40)than includes… “Curbs, gutters, sidewalks and stormwater treatment systems will be installed.” and from this you conclude it is only for cyclists??
http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/153934
The road construction for this summer is gonna make traffic really bad but if it improves our town then I’m all for it. I’m glad to hear there will be filtration systems installed on some of the storm drains. Sidewalks and filtering the grime from entering the lake is long overdue. While I’m on the subject of storm drains, it’s good to hear there are a couple of groups that have formed to monitor the outflow of these pipes that pour pollutants into the lake.
The names like Pipe club or Pipe keepers takes me back to the late 60’s and mid 70’s. Makes me laugh everytime I read those names!
Back when I was a young man the Pipe club would’ve meant those stoners standing in a group passing around a pipe. The pipe keeper is the person you wanted to stand next to at a party hoping to get a puff.
Ah yes, the good old days of Souh Lake Tahoe. I no longer partake of the herb but when I did, I did inhale and hold it in for as long as I could(unlike”I did not inhale” Bill Clinton).
Hope you all have a good summer and plan your travel around So. Shore to miss the the mess our hiway and Pioneer will be in.
Gardening time is getting near, are you ready? Take care, OLS
I just emptied almost a gallon of Round up on the Crushed rock Driveway, Patio. All around the house. And planter beds where grass was already coming in. what a nice day! Its 70 degs right now.
Have the MTB in the living room giving it a tune in little bits as time permits
I heard that the Vodka-Roundup drinks were popular in all the bars in Texas. That would explain alot. Just because we don’t live there doesn’t mean we can be just as Stupid!