Then and (not) now: Public says no to Emerald Bay bridge
Caltrans once planned to put a bridge in at Emerald Bay. Photo/Bill Kingman/Circa 1960
In the late 1950s, Caltrans presented various plans for a bridge across the entrance to Emerald Bay and rerouting Highway 89.
What Emerald Bay looks like today via Google.
Strong public opposition prevailed, and that idea was dropped in the 1960s. This was prior to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s formation.
In the same time period, film manufacturer and processor Eastman Kodak declared that Emerald Bay was one most-photographed location in the world, second only to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
— Bill Kingman
Bill Kingman, Dave Borges,
I remember that proposed plan for a bridge across the entrance to Emerald Bay. There was also the idea of making Pioneer trail four lanes, that was when Pioneer was still un-paved from Al Tahoe blvd. to hwy. 50. Also the planned huge parking lot out in Meyers for the tourists to park and be shuttled in and out, plus a toll gate for anyone coming or leaving south shore out by the bug station. All crazy ideas and fortunately none of them came to be.
Got some old newspapers from the “Tahoe Chronicle” from 66′ and 67′ if you want to check them out.
Dave Borges, just found in my pile of stuff an old copy of the “Tahoe keys lake lagoon living progress report”. Sam and Rosie are written about in glowing terms and it’s kinda cool,maybe from 1967(?).
Call me if you want a look see.
On an unrelated note, the Persied meteor shower has been great! One or maybe 2 more nights to go. Get out and watch the the sky! Old Long Skiis (544-0760)
actually, the plan to utilize pioneer trail in a four-lane configuration would have changed for the better the setting of south lake tahoe, allowing for a slower, friendlier use of the highway 50 corridor, pioneer essentially becoming the loop road…
If they had built a bridge similar to the Golden Gate, would it not have been a tremendous tourist attraction. Also, highway 89 could stay open in the winter without worrying about avalanches from the steep mountain slopes.
Interestingly, prior to this bridge, Frank Lloyd Wright came to Emerald Bay with designs for the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony (1923) http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/flw/flw03.html
“He conceived floating cabins, around the island, whose changeable positions on the water would intensify the visual impact of the bay, and conceived the inn, itself approached by a floating bridge, as a sort of elaborate jetty.”
Thankfully, Mrs. Armstrong declined Mr. Wright’s offer and sold to Lora Knight instead… the rest, as they say, is history. Super cool Lake Tahoe history.
Thanks to Denise for the Frank Lloyd Wright perspectives. . .1923 would have been about the time he came back from his work on the now-legendary Empress Hotel in Tokyo. . .by invitation from the Emperor of Japan, Wright took up residence in Japan to begin work on the Empress (around 1920).
This became known as his ‘Japan Period’.
He had a singular goal of building a hotel that would withstand an 8.0 earthquake, meaning he experimented with certain engineering techniques to accomplish that. . .& was wildly successful !
There was in fact an 8.5 earthquake as the Empress was in its’ final year of construction, and while most of Tokyo was completely decimated, the Empress stood proudly at the crest of the hill where it was built, structurally-sound. . .
Perhaps an Einstein architectural influence here would have forestalled so much of the “slice-of- heaven” approach of all the piecemeal variations in size and quality we’re now having to live with. . .
Garry, I believe the “Empress” is actually the “Imperial” Hotel.
I stand corrected. . .in any event, it’s still standing to this day. . .our closest FLW example is the Dragon golf course above Truckee (Graeagle area), which was built from archived plans that were never done at the time of their commission. . .
Building a acceptable bridge at Emerald bay can be a prelude to public transit circling Lake Tahoe. What if the public transit is clean electrical energy? Wonder if the current state road going around Emerald Bay is much worse ecologically than a bridge.
Swim to the island in Emerald Bay, climb to the tea house, and look out the window that faces the mouth of the bay. Then picture it with a bridge — any sort of bridge at all. If you can still say that a bridge would be a good thing to put there, then we are coming from completely different perspectives and will have to agee to disagree.
Perhaps in the winter a ferry should move cars from South Tahoe to points north of the bay.
Tunnel
I’ve wondered whether a tunnel would be a viable option. If so, let’s tunnel under Camp Rich, too.
Just Google Tunnel equipment. Now that building roads and bridges has gotten so Expensive, The tunnel through the mountain, Under the Lake
Around the Lake.
Is starting to look like a viable option.