Tahoe roadwork to severely impact drive time
By Kathryn Reed
Extra time. It’s something motorists will need more of this summer because of all the road related work occurring in the Lake Tahoe Basin this summer.
With the weather being unseasonably dry, the work is already beginning. Some of the work is on state highways, other is on municipal streets, bike paths are being put in, utilities changed and water meters installed.
In South Lake Tahoe, nearly all the main thoroughfares will be affected, which means normal shortcuts are not going to save any time.
Southwest Gas starting in mid-May is expected to begin relocating its infrastructure from the Y to Al Tahoe Boulevard. It will then go up Al Tahoe Boulevard to the first entrance for Lake Tahoe Community College. This will take two years.
This needs to be done before Caltrans comes in in 2017. The state will repave that 2-mile stretch, put in curb and gutter. It will essentially look like other areas of town where Caltrans has upgraded the roadway; but it won’t have streetlights. The Caltrans job when it starts will take three years to complete.
Lane closures will be the norm all summer.
The other utility project is Liberty Utilities will be putting its lines underground on Pioneer Trail from Golden Bear to the city limits. This mean lane closures on Pioneer Trail.
Compounding that area will be El Dorado County’s repaving project on Black Bart, Martin and Barbara avenues.
Then the city will be working on Sierra Boulevard most of the summer, with the start date being early May on the $4.5 million project. There will be curbs and gutters on the side that drains into the meadow. This is mostly a water quality project that will tie into the Caltrans project that is coming in 2017.
“In Sierra Tract there are not many places in the road to put big storm drain pipes. That is what is supposed to be put in first before the roads, not last,” Jim Marino, assistant public works director, told Lake Tahoe News. “There will be a lot of detours, road closures and definite impact to that residential area.”
The most noticeable and impactful project may be through Camp Richardson. Caltrans will be working on a $25 million project on Highway 89 from the Y to Cascade Lake. This will take at least two years, if not three.
Trees have already been removed to accommodate 4-foot shoulders in the two-lane area.
The four-lane stretch will see curbs, gutters and sidewalks, much like the middle of South Lake Tahoe.
While at the end of the day the road is designed to look better, the main thing is improved water quality by putting in drainage features so less sediment is reaching Lake Tahoe.
The contractor is set to begin work today. Significant traffic controls are slated to begin next week. Expect up to 20-minute delays just in this area.
Off-peak season work will be around-the-clock from Sunday at 10pm to Friday at 11am. During peak season it will be Sunday at 9pm to Monday at 7am, and Monday-Friday 7pm-7am.
“There is a proposal that our resident engineer has put forth to work during the day during the season in the four-lane section of town where the motels are,” Steve Nelson with Caltrans told Lake Tahoe News. “The hotel owners are pushing for us to work during the day because of the disturbance to their guests. It has not been approved yet.”
The concern about working during the day is that backups would be more severe.
With all of Caltrans’ projects, it may take more than an extra hour to drive from South Lake Tahoe to Tahoe City.
The Vikingsholm to Meeks Bay project should be completed this year. Half of the 7-mile section was finished last year, with the other half on the books for this season.
Meeks Bay to Wilson Road in Tahoma is a separate 2-mile stretch that will take one summer to do.
From Homewood to the Ward Creek area near Sunnyside is another project.
Each Caltrans project could be a 20-minute delay. During peak season the Homewood/Sunnyside and Tahoma jobs will have around-the-clock work during the week.
Bike paths will be built in the county and city. The Sawmill path should be completed this summer. It will then provide a continuous link from Meyers to South Tahoe High School.
In South Lake Tahoe, the path from the site of the old Alta Mira building, at the end of Lakeview Commons, to Ski Run Boulevard will be repaved. It will be a class 1 trail – meaning off the road, and 10 feet of pavement.
The hope is that work will begin mid-summer, but the city still needs to acquire property and/or right-of-way before going out to bid.
Marino, with the city, said the money – mostly grants – is in hand for what could be a $4 million project for three-quarters of a mile. That figure includes acquisitions and planning, not just building the trail.
Some property owners want compensation and won’t just grant an easement because parking spots will be eliminated.
“Being adjacent to the highway there are grade issues and restructuring; acquisition at several those commercial properties is driving up the costs,” Marino said. Water quality improvements will also be part of the bike path.
Work is also continuing on Highway 28 in Kings Beach.
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Notes:
• April 21, 9am South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting will have a presentation about the Sierra Tract project.
• April 23, 6pm at Lake Tahoe Airport there will be a meeting hosted by the city, Caltrans and Southwest Gas to talk about the project along Highway 50.
• Here is Caltrans information.
The council needs to look into unreasonable traffic delays and extended lane closures.
I don’t understand why Cal Trans and STPUD can work on their projects only closing a couple hundred feet of 50. Then a couple of men planting a bush 20 feet of the highway need to close a mile and a half of the hwy and cone off Al Tahoe too!!
If you can’t price people out of the basin, drive them out with inconvenience and hassles. Make it so annoying to visit or get to work that they just go somewhere else.
Good plan.
Thanks for the graphics, nice.
Highway 89 to look like slt? That’s a GREAT plan. These morons just do whatever they please huh?
Rebuilding and upgrading our infrastructure for the future of our town can’t wait for those that care only for themselves to die-suck it up-think about generations to come instead of me me me-for once
Tea total, if the story read that no road work was going to be done the whiners would complain about that. Its what they do…
I can only speak for myself but last summer’s road construction kept me away from the City. Upgrading infrastructure is great but at what expense to the business community? Constant road construction and no snow is a combination that many businesses won’t be able to weather. Where are the Chambers? If you’re a dues paying member, you’re not getting much for your money- but who needs customers anyway?
too many projects at one time!!!!
What good is a new, improved road if they’re always working on it? Fine, no problem, if it’s one Summer of construction we were talking about. But rather, it’s an ‘every’ Summer of road construction!
Yes Isee, where is this big, powerful, supposedly so effective, well-paid Chamber when you need it?
Not hard to tell who has to drive through the mess and who doesn’t.
I would still like to see the carbon foot print of the asphalt and concrete along with the hundreds of thousands of cars idling in traffic.
Our roads are in great need of repair. If it means lane closures and traffic delays, so be it!
The street in front of my place is falling apart with large cracks and potholes forming…and those cracks and potholes ain’t getting any smaller, they’re gettin’ bigger!
So I give a big thumbs up for road repair and I wish they could do more. OLS
Another example of how you can please some of the people some of the time, and some people never. They can come over and fix my street and inconvenience me anytime they want.
I agree with OLS, there are many roads that need repairing. I was down in the bay area and it’s not really any different down there. Their roads suck too. In fact, our roads might be better.
Prepare for traffic, and be thankful your tax dollars are going to something that is needed.
Come on man! If you have lived up here for a while you know Tahoe has two seasons, winter and roadwork.
Adjust to it and plan your excursions to take the delays into account.
Logistics dictate when and where work that NEEDS to be done CAN be done. We live in an unique environment that has situations that are unlike anywhere else. If you are not happy about it, then you have the option to go, well, anywhere else. :)
Nice graphics, Kae. It will come in handy this summer. Good excuse to get out of the car and on a bike more often. I say “tear the bandaid off” and get it all done now.
How many years was it that Tahoe avoided doing necessary improvements to the roads because it would cost too much? This is what happens when we don’t keep up with infrastructure.
cant wait to see the complaints when they start on the 50 again, from the Y to trout creek. at least when thats done in 2018(starts2017) most of the major roadwork with caltrans will be done.
I realize the roads need work. Its all the endless sidewalks and water wasting landscaping that makes me angry.
If you work at on the Nevada side and live at the Y there’s noway to time your trips when 50 and Pioneer are being worked on at the same time.
PS
I love the wieners complain about the people who complain.
I made a simple observation about the needless lane closures.