Highway 28 to receive nearly $24 mil. in upgrades

Eleven miles of Highway 28 will be getting about $24 million worth of improvements.

Washoe County commissioners on Nov. 12 approved a $12.5 million Federal Lands Access Program agreement for the corridor from Incline Village to the Highway 50 junction.

The funding will be targeted toward safety advances, expanded transportation options, an enhanced visitor experience, increased economic vitality and improved water clarity.

“This is the single most significant project on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe in decades,” Marsha Berkbigler, Washoe County commissioner and Tahoe Transportation District board member, said in a press release.

The Federal Lands Access Program was established to improve transportation facilities that provide access to high-use federal recreation sites.

The remaining comes from: $2.3 million from Nevada Department of Transportation; $3.5 million from Nevada Question 1 – voter-approved funding for the Lake Tahoe Bike Path; $1 million from State Lands Tahoe Bond Act; $800,000 from Tahoe Fund for the Lake Tahoe Bike Path; $2 million Federal Scenic Byways; $150,000 Federal Recreation Trails Program; $650,000 Federal Transportation Alternative Program; and $1 million from Washoe County Tahoe Air Quality Mitigation funds and Washoe County Question 1 – voter-approved funding for the Lake Tahoe Bike Path.

Highway 28 segments in Washoe, Carson and Douglas counties will feature three miles of new off highway bike path from Lakeshore Drive to Sand Harbor, additional and improved East Shore Express transit stops, expanded off-highway parking, a park-n-ride lot near U.S. Highway 50, guardrail improvements, emergency pullouts, and environmental improvement projects such as storm water collection and filtration. Construction of these improvements will begin with the first mile of off highway bike path in summer 2015.