Letter: Responding to loop road letter

Publisher’s note: This is in response to a letter about the loop road.

Mr. Wright,

I believe we discussed this idea at a meeting where I was presenting the project, and you brought it up. As you may recall I responded that a tunnel alternative was considered along with many others, but rejected. The entire length of Highway 50 through the core would be extremely difficult given the utilities, ground water, and ventilation requirements let alone the cost, so it was rejected. A shorter tunnel scenario under the residential area was also considered and rejected because of impacts and cost. I have attached the staff summary and attachments that went to my board of directors in April of 2013 when the five project alternatives were approved for the environmental document analysis. You will find the alternatives including those considered and rejected in Attachment A.

The public was involved and greatly influenced the selection of alternatives for the environmental document analysis including the proposed project alternative. We had numerous public meetings, association meetings, and several Council meetings seeking formal input and comments. The City Council meetings were particularly instrumental in changing the proposed project from what the District had identified to the alternative that is now the proposed action, and adding the Skywalk Alternative bringing the total number for evaluation to five.

Please contact Russ Nygaard of my staff at rnygaard@tahoetransportation.org or myself if you have questions on the materials that I have included.

Thank you for reaching out to us and for your suggestion,

Carl Hasty, Tahoe Transportation District manager