Expect traffic impacts during president’s visit

By Kathryn Reed

President Obama will be using Marine One to fly into Lake Tahoe Airport on Wednesday for the 20th annual Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit.

He is the keynote speaker at the confab at Harveys in Stateline that starts at 1:30pm Aug. 31.

The summits started in 1997 with then President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore coming at the invitation of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. With Reid leaving office in a matter of months, this is the last summit he will be hosting. While Clinton and Gore went out on the lake when they were here, Reid’s office told Lake Tahoe News there are no plans for Obama to tour the area.

Usually the summits are a bipartisan affair, but the scheduled speakers are all Democrats – Obama, Reid, Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer of California, and Gov. Jerry Brown are on the docket.

This will be Obama’s first visit to Lake Tahoe.

President Obama will arrive in Tahoe on Aug. 31 via helicopter. Photo/South Lake Tahoe

He can’t come in Air Force One because the runway at Lake Tahoe Airport is not long enough, coupled with the density of the mountain air. Test flights were done this weekend to ensure all would go smoothly when the president is actually here.

There will be a 3-mile no-fly zone around the president. This includes CalStar, so ground transport will have to be used in all medical emergencies during this time.

With the airport doubling as offices for South Lake Tahoe, the entire building will be shut down for the better part of the day Wednesday for security reasons.

When Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was in town last week law enforcement was scattered throughout Pioneer Trail to allow his motorcade to zip from the airport to Stateline. While the president’s route has not been disclosed, expect delays on area roads on Wednesday.

“There are a variety of contingency routes. For security they plan on a variety,” South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler told Lake Tahoe News. “While we are involved, the Secret Service is understandably in charge. I think it is safe to say that traffic could be affected anytime between noon and 4pm on the day he is here.”

Various protests – for or against people and causes – could also tie up traffic.

PETA is planning a protest at Highway 50 and Heavenly Village Way from 9-10:30am regarding how much water it takes to raise animals for food consumption.

Even Heavenly Mountain Resort’s gondola will be closed between 12:30-2:30pm.