Initial Greenway Bike Path phase coming in ’14
Planned and existing bike trails on the South Shore. Map/CTC
By Kathryn Reed
The significance of a stretch of bike trail cannot be measured in its length.
Such is the case with the initial phase of the South Tahoe Greenway Trail that is slated to be built next summer. It will be less than a half-mile and comes with a construction price tag of about $500,000.
The money to build what is being called Phase 1A is in hand and was allocated at Thursday’s California Tahoe Conservancy board meeting.
In 2008, the CTC was projecting the entire 9.2-mile trail would cost $20 million to build.
While that entire project that has been on the books since 2002 is still on the drawing board, it is now being cobbled together, but in a way that is designed to attract future funding.
“We strategized how we were going to phase this carefully so we could attract additional funding,” Sue Rae Irelan, with the CTC, told Lake Tahoe News after the meeting. “If you can make transportation an argument, there will be bike funding available.”
This initial phase is in a heart of a community that relies heavily on walking and biking as its modes of transportation.
Today, grant dollars go to entities that also have a proven track record. The CTC has built numerous bike trails on the California side of the basin.
The Greenway Trail has been Irelan’s baby since the get-go.
“It’s just going to feel so wonderful to ride this first section of trail,” Irelan said.
It will be 10-feet wide, with 2-foot shoulders, meet ADA requirements and have a grade of less than 5 percent.
The entire project is now three phases. And within phase 1 are three phases. Phase 1A is 0.47 miles linking the Bijou neighborhood to the edge of Bijou Meadow. It will be ready to ride at the end of the 2014 construction season.
Phase 1B hooks up at the meadow and connects to Bijou Community Park and crosses Al Tahoe Boulevard to connect to Lake Tahoe Community College and the community ball field.
Phase 1C connects on the other side of 1A and goes to Ski Run Boulevard.
All of Phase 1 is 3.62 miles. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has issued a permit for the entire phase.
Phases 2 and 3 include going to Meyers in one direction and Van Sickle Bi-state Park in the other.
Phases 1B and 1C may cost more because they involve boardwalks to cross stream environmental zones. But the extent of those crossings is up in the air with the TRPA Regional Plan update not classifying all SEZ areas the same. And with coverage for bike trails not part of the equation, that, too, could drop the price.
This will be a CTC owned trail. Usually the state agency is a funding pass-through of sorts to other entities. This means the CTC also needs to figure out how to pay for maintenance and operation costs.
Irelan at the June 20 meeting told the board because CTC is not eligible for voter approved Measure R funds for bike trail maintenance it’s possible an agreement with the city will be worked out so the local government could use Measure R dollars for the Greenway.
That topic has not been discussed by the Measure R board, which consists of a city rep, El Dorado County member and Tahoe Paradise Park person.
Also at the Thursday board meeting, the board allocated up to $350,000 for the remainder of the Sawmill bike path to be finished in 2014.
NOW IF OUR PLANS COULD INCLUDE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO THE RESIDENTS OF MEYERS!… THOSE OF US THAT LIVE IN THE COUNTY AND WORK IN THE CITY OF SOUTH LAKE TAHOE DESERVE BETTER! I STILL THINK THAT THE FACT THAT WE PROVIDE SERVICE TO THE CARSON VALLEY BUT NOT TO MEYERS IS NOT ONLY RIDICULOUS … BUT AN INSULT ! THE RESIDENTS OF MEYERS AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTY AREAS NEED TO SPEEK UP AND LET THE PLANNERS KNOW THAT MEYERS IS A VITAL PART OF SOUTH SHORE AND SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN ALL PLANNING THAT AFFECTS THE CITY!… ESPECIALLY WHEN IT INVOLVES TRANSPORTATION ,THE BICYCLE COMMUNITY AND PARKING!
Thank you Shenja; I am right there with you! Every chance I get, I ask why we can go to Carson Valley and around the Lake, but not to Meyers with bus service.We need to get together; please call me.
AMEN — I agree.
Wonder how long it’ll be before the City starts trying figure ways to charge for use of the trail.
Thanks to the creators of http://www.convertcase.net/ we can all enjoy a comment that was written in ALL CAPS. Unlike the majority of ALL CAPS comments this one is worth reading.
Now if our plans could include public transportation to the residents of meyers!… those of us that live in the county and work in the city of south lake tahoe deserve better! I still think that the fact that we provide service to the carson valley but not to meyers is not only ridiculous … but an insult ! The residents of meyers and the surrounding county areas need to speek up and let the planners know that meyers is a vital part of south shore and should be included in all planning that affects the city!… especially when it involves transportation ,the bicycle community and parking!
Awesome. Excellent improvement enhancing SLT’s greatest asset.
I’ve been fussing about no bus service from Meyers to town ever since we moved here in 1979. I’m proud that my son, Shen, has picked up the torch and spoken so eloquently for those of us who have this dream to live in the outskirts and have a town that is not full of apt. bldgs. & wall to wall houses to shelter all who try to exist here in paradise. “Networking” doesn’t have to mean cars and parking lots. You go, Sue Rae, bikes & buses!
No no no, Cooper, its not how long until they start charging, we are already being charged under measure R (or was it S?) As in for over 10 years we’ve been paying in for trails and they are now getting to them. Maybe in another 10 years they’ll start to think of connecting to the people in Meyers.
That aside I don’t think the city will charge for the use of the trail. Now if you’d like to park your bike, well then all bets are off.
No kidding, Louis! Decifering my property tax bill is getting to be absurd. Pretty soon they’ll have to start adding pages for all the ‘fees’ surcharges, bonds, etc. There are 3 separate school bonds alone! But that was last year. Haven’t seen this year’s yet. But that’s what you get when you let renters decide whether or not to raise the taxes of property owners. No skin in the game.
I thought you were a constitutional fundamentalist, as well as an angry sky man fundamentalist.
And now you want a voting test?
That is one of the most unconstitutional things you could possibly support. And the irony of that coming from a female…
I’m dizzy.
I thought using ALL CAPS might get someone’s attention … I guess it worked!!!!!!!!!!!
We just need to look south to Mammoth to see how a transportation system and bike trails can work together. Free bus system that services the area and bike trails that connect neighborhoods and parks. We have an area which huge potential for a viable efficient transportation system people would use if put into operation. A Pioneer Trail / Myers / North Upper Truckee / 50 Loop with buses running both directions. Martin/Black Bart, Al Tahoe and Ski Run could have neighborhood shuttles that connect to the bus stops on Pioneer and 50 Same could be put into place for Christmas valley and West of the “Y” Charge $2 for ride with connections and have a day/monthly pass. Never a real need then to drive a car. I am sure the City vs. County politics vs. funding grants would never allow this to come into reality. Makes too much sense.
From a lounge chair by a pool on Kona, and without researching. ….
1. If we want bus service in the county, we need to pay city taxes by annexation or a special tax district
2. Using all caps usually means your yelling at someone. Not cool.
3. Not positive but I think the local
Google philanthropist, is funding the bus to Carson Valley. (Big George is his is charitable name)
Can anyone confirm this?
Les, I’m 99.9% sure you are correct as to Big George Ventures.
I guess it’s better that imake my opinion known here … Cuz if I were at a meeting about this I probably would be yelling!
I agree with Mr. Wright’s remarks and would recommend that individuals upset about the inadequacy of the local transportation/bus service to Meyers attend a Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) Board meeting and voice your opinions and suggestions to that Board of Directors.
I don’t need to go to a meeting with people who don’t understand why the fact that I can take a public bus to Walmart , but not to Meyers is an insult to those if us who have grown up here using the bike paths and trails to get around. Most of the people that LIVE in Meyers ( yes I’m yelling) work or have worked for the city of South Lake Tahoe in some way and deserve better attention when it comes to transportation planning.
Shenja:
Maybe you and JoAnn Conner could go to the TTD Board Meeting regarding this matter since the TTD is an organization that greatly influences the public transportation system in the Tahoe basin. Just complaining on a blog and not going to the source that may be able to do something to remedy the situation won’t get you anywhere, literally and figuratively.
Didn’t BlueGO go out to Meyers a few years ago at the request of Meyers residents? I thought it stopped running because nobody rode it even though everyone said they would. I just hope if future buses come they are actually ridden to justify them. With all the positive energy in Meyers right now I could see a restored service really taking off! As someone said above, the Meyers community may need to bring some money to the table like others are for current transit services that are being identified and compared. Nothing’s free, especially public transit.
To Les & ‘biggerpicture’:
“Mr. Google” (that would be Ray Sidney) funded $ 1,000,000 for the Valley commute route for the first year, but pulled the funding after that – the “Tahoe” rumor mill is not robust enough to answer the WHY of that in a definitive way. . .
As I’ve used the Montreal slogan (thanks Quebec) now for years to illustrate the importance of community cycling – [it is: “It’s not just sport, it’s transport…” – this after 450 miles of bike paths over a quarter century] as it includes mobility above & beyond either ‘road’ or ‘mountain’ biking, to include families, children going to school, those just wanting to get around, not just “recreating” as Tahoe suggests, then we will not make an appreciable dent in Tahoe’s air quality improvement. Neither are these consistent with either AB 32 or SB 375, the so-called Sustainable Communities Initiative, which is geared to the ‘low-hanging fruit’ of automobile emissions, given the 20 million cars in CA – Tahoe’s transit directions make something other than car use the “high-hanging” fruit, as in unreachable or unattainable – it will rot “up there” before coming to fruition. . .
It’s interesting to note that the cost per mile is now pegged at $ 2,000,000/mile versus the $ 1,000,000/mile that was already too high. This will make yet another “reason” why they won’t be done, as that effectively cuts in half the amount needed to actually get enough to create a viable network –
Transit is continually short-changed, as most who decide these things have no intent or interest in either riding a bus or riding a bike, therefore the obvious benefits of either are lost in all the planning activities – the Loop Road, for example, does absolutely nothing to reduce automobile traffic, but it does have the irony of spending $ 70,000,000 to encourage more of it.
If that $ 70,000,000 were spent on 70 miles of bike paths (@ even 1,000,000/mile), then the real irony would be to increase auto traffic (in the form of more visitors) and way more bicycle traffic as well. This is an economic development concept, not just another “project” that doesn’t get done by having to compete with others for “funding” that is known not to exist. . .
Of course we can go to Carson City – the 1st stop allows one to shop at either Costco or Walmart, doing more for Douglas County tax base than our own. . . and we all know that our shopping choices are too expensive when the wages are too low…
TTD has a “goal” of ‘2035’ – not even 2020 as most sustainable communities pledge themselves to. . .
Is this anyway to get ahead ? . . . decide for yourself. . .
Blue Go did offer service to Meyers a few years back (sometime in 2007-2008 if I remember correctly). The route was discontinued due to a lack of ridership. I believe they had a loss of something like $50,000 over a period of a few months for the Meyer’s service.
I’m not sure if there would be more demand for today, but, it was a considerable drain on public transit resources when it was offered.
How many riders take the bus to Carson City? Virtually every Blue Go bus I see around town or on the Nevada side appears to be nearly empty.
Please do voice your opinions to the TTD. I repeatedly ask why there are low ridership routes to the bottom of Kingsbury, to Carson City, and around the lake to places like Homewood and Tahoma, but not to Meyers. I am told there is no money and no demand. I am only one voice, even though I am the alternate to TTD from the Council.
4mer mc … You are probably right .. If I really want my opinions heard I should probably go to one of the meetings you talk about…. But I would only get thrown out. I guess I put my faith in the hands of the people that represent me and my voice…. And hope for the best. I’m just pointing out the things I see that I feel could be better put together by the people we have put in charge. Unfortunately … What I’ve gathered by the posts in this blog .. Is that somewhere in our system there is corruption .. And if Meyers wants a public bus to go the extra 4mi out to Lira’s or a van to go up and down pioneer trail every couple of hours …. Then we have to fork out some cash…?