By Kathryn Reed

Caltrans crews on Sunday started the multi-day process of clearing Highway 89 around Emerald Bay Road.

People trying to get up that way were being turned around at Cascade Road on the South Shore on Sunday afternoon.

A Caltrans worker who did not give his name said it would take at least two days for the several feet of snow to be removed from the road. The state workers go from south to north to clear the highway.

Caltrans equipment heads toward Emerald Bay on Feb. 20. Photo/Kathryn Reed

Besides the mounds of snow to contend with, the route is susceptible to avalanches.

Nicole Chapman, owner and operator of Metal Towing and Transportation, was at the turn around.

She said Saturday night she helped with an Office Depot “big-box van” trying to get to the West Shore that ended up off the pavement Chapman said it caused a 14-car chain-reaction accident of fender benders and no serious injuries.

A California Highway Patrol dispatcher said she was not working Saturday night, so had no information and said no one would be available to talk about the pile-up until Tuesday.

Chapman is trying to spread the word to get motorists to be more educated about the Move-Over law, which Lake Tahoe News wrote about a year ago.

A colleague of hers died earlier this month. A procession of tow truck drivers made its way down Interstate 80 on Feb. 18 from Sacramento to Roseville following the funeral of Michael Sanders. The 27-year-old worked for Welcome’s Auto Body & Towing in South Lake Tahoe before getting a job with Ace In The Hole Towing.