Loop road specifics begin to emerge

By Kathryn Reed

STATELINE —  “This project is not going to cure everything,” Carl Hasty said of the proposed loop road on the South Shore.

Hasty, the district manager for the Tahoe Transportation District, gave an update on the project April 13 to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s Advisory Planning Commission.

His response was in regards to a question about parking. He added that the only parking associated with the loop road will involve any development that goes on – such as affordable housing.

Part of the presentation included a high-speed video of vehicle and pedestrian interaction near Heavenly Village during Presidents Day weekend. The purpose was to visually show the conflicts. The goal is to do it again on a busy summer day. There was no mention of documenting the area during normal flows to see what, if any, conflicts exist during the bulk of the year.

One of the visuals had a Heavenly gondola tower becoming a feature of the median.

There will be an overpass built to get people from the Harrah’s parking lot to Van Sickle Bi-State Park. Even though this state park has had funding issues since the get-go, it will be the park’s responsibility to keep the overpass clear of snow. The actual structure will be Caltrans’ liability

The loop road plan calls for making the current Highway 50 from about Pioneer Trail to Lake Parkway a city-county street, and turning the street behind Harrah’s-MontBleu into the five-lane highway. To make this happen commercial and residential buildings in South Lake Tahoe would be razed, and streets realigned.

One APC board member asked for a future rendering to identify the right-of-way that will need to be acquired to make the project a reality.

Hasty said the district has talked to properties involved, but no rights-of-way have yet to be secured, but added such a slide could be developed.

Another member asked if the bypass would speed up the flow of traffic.

“You don’t want it to go faster,” Hasty said. The expectation is for traffic to flow more easily and be more fluid.

To get bicyclists through the area more safely a cycle track is being proposed for city-county road.

The draft environmental documents are now slated to be released in June. The final could be done in September. In between those time there will be more public hearings. One alternative is doing nothing – which has to be included. It will address current standards in terms of public safety and traffic issues.