transportation

The Lake Valley Fire Protection District held their first Commendation Ceremony on Saturday night at Lake Tahoe Golf Course, honoring firefighters and citizens for their efforts during the past year.

Winners during the evening:

Firefighter of the Year – Ted Jackson
Civilian Award of Merit – Jacob Zorn, Dept of Transportation
Civilian Award of Merit – Ian Whitmarsh, University of San Francisco
Life Saver Award – Alex Vaughn, Sierra-at-Tahoe Ski Patrol
Life Saver Award – Engineer Wes Long and Firefighter/Paramedic Mike Anderson

Trees will need to be removed from the Emerald Fire area, and the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is asking for comments on a proposal to remove the hazardous trees and plant seedlings in that area.

“Restoration of the Emerald Fire area will help restore habitat for various wildlife species and provide benefits to the Lake Tahoe watershed,” said LTBMU Forest Supervisor, Jeff Marsolais. “The restoration effort will also provide visual benefits to residents and visitors and allow for a more fire resilient landscape.”

4:15 p.m. update: Kingsbury Grade (State Route 207) will remain closed indefinitely on the Carson Valley side of the road as the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) continues safety evaluation and removal of major rockfall.

The highway was closed early Friday afternoon as NDOT and contractor Q&D Construction removed loose trees and earth from a roadside slope to help reduce rock and mud fall onto the highway. The slope had slid approximately one foot within the past 24 hours, posing the threat of bringing mud, rock and debris across the highway.

March 30 update: Due to weather, lane shifts will take place on U.S. 50 near Spooner junction in south Carson City beginning the evening of Sunday, April 2.

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Travelers on Highway 50 near Spooner Junction in Carson City will see lane shifts for the next two months as the Nevada Department of Transportation prepares for the future freeway.

10:06 p.m. update: The South Lake Tahoe Police Department has released an update on Friday night's stabbing at the Transit Center at the Y.

Originally we were told the suspect was born in 1945, instead, he is a 45-year-old male.

A letter sent to the South Lake Tahoe City Council and Lake Tahoe Unified School District has prompted Angela Swanson, a member of the City's Planning Commission, to resign from her position.

Swanson was appointed to the commission after submitting an application and being appointed during the January 17, 2017 City Council meeting. She was one of 11 people vying for the five open positions, each for a two-year term.

Lake Tahoe must improve its internal transportation systems before they can expect visitors to the region to get out of their cars and use different, and better, ways of getting around. That was the message during last week's Tahoe Talks presentation by Lake Tahoe transportation partners, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) and El Dorado County.

A 3.86 mile shared used bike trail from Van Sickle Bi-State Park to Sierra Boulevard is getting closer to becoming reality after a Memo of Understanding (MOU) has been developed between its three partners.

The first phase of the South Tahoe Greenway Shared Use Trail was completed through the Bijou neighborhood in Summer, 2015, but the next phase needed a partnership between the City of South Lake Tahoe (City), Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) and California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) to be completed.

As a national treasure offering world-class recreation opportunities, Lake Tahoe is one of the most popular outdoor destinations in Northern California and Nevada. And sometimes, being popular has its challenges.

Tahoe’s limited roadways become congested during times of peak visitation, when thousands of people who live in nearby metropolitan areas get in their cars to drive up to our small mountain communities. Suddenly, a road system designed for 55,000 residents must handle four to five times that many cars on an average busy day.

Many drivers plan ahead when planning their travel along highways in interstates across the county. Want to miss rush hour? Don't hit that city in the morning and late afternoon. Mad dash to Santa Cruz on a warm Saturday? Leave early in the morning or go the night before to miss the backup of traffic.

Smooth travel over Highway 50 in the Sierra requires the same planning or one will get stuck in heavy traffic on Friday evenings heading to Lake Tahoe, or Sunday mornings leaving Lake Tahoe (or the day after a holiday).

Former South Lake Tahoe Fire Captain Mark McLeod Wygant was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 10 years in prison for transportation of child pornography

Wygant, 46, plead guilty in December.

Following an FBI and SLT Police Department investigation, Wygant was a
arrested on Jan. 29 2015 and has been in custody ever since. He had been immediately placed on administration leave but resigned just days after his arrest.

SR-89 at Emerald Bay may open Saturday after crews have made significant progress on clearing away snow from last week's storm as well as snow and debris 20 feet high from a slide that fell onto the highway at Vikingsholm.

Meanwhile, one lane of U.S. Highway 50 remains open in each direction at Bridal Veil Falls while emergency work continues on a major slipout that destroyed the #2 westbound lane and also impacted the #1 lane. Work there is also expected to take several months for the design and construction of a new retaining wall to stabilize the slope.

An avalanche Monday night has closed SR-437 in both directions at the summit. There is approximately 20 feet of snow covering the road.

The Nevada Highway Patrol and Nevada Department of Transportation are both responding to the avalanche and will begin clearing operations.

There is no estimated time of reopening at this hour and no other information is available.

Drivers between South Lake Tahoe and Spooner Summit may once again travel along Highway 50 after it was closed for several days after boulders larger than passenger vehicles rolled down the hill onto the road just north of Cave Rock.

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) reopened the road with one lane of traffic moving in each direction.

No vehicles were involved in the slides, and no injuries were reported.

With the closure of Hwy 50 due to a mudslide, several motorists have taken to their GPS units to try to navigate around the closure. This has led to numerous parties getting stuck on roads that are closed during the winter, and in the end, has tied up valuable resources rescuing them from deep snow or impassable roads.

In the winter, the only safe alternate route when Hwy 50 is closed is to use SR88 to the South, or I80 to the North. You can take Hwy 49 in Placerville to reach either one. At this time though, both alternative routes are closed.

A flood warning remains in effect for South Lake Tahoe until Wednesday evening. One storm system will be leaving the area as a new atmospheric river heads into the region on Thursday.

Flood watch warning is now in place for Thursday at 10:00 a.m. to Friday at 4:00 a.m. This will be combine with a winter storm warning starting at the same time and going until Saturday at 1:00 a.m. Those warnings will be replaced with a dry period over the weekend with sunny clear skies and temperatures into the 40s and 50s.

The rain has caused some road closures:

There were several areas through South Lake Tahoe that experienced flooding on Tuesday as rain from an atmospheric river hit the region, with two Meyers area streets getting the brunt of the storm.

Caltrans, El Dorado County and City of South Lake Tahoe crews, along with homeowners worked through the day to get standing water off the road, out of driveways and even homes.

With the ground saturated by a combination of rain and snow, a vehicle-sized boulder slid into a portion of the eastbound lane of Highway 50 at Lake Tahoe near Logan Creek on Monday morning causing some traffic delays.

No injuries were reported in the incident which happened some time after 7:00 a.m. The eastbound lane was partially blocked by the slide, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation.

It’s been great seeing all of my friends and acquaintances who have lived here for less than 10 years posting photos and sharing how Snowmageddon 2017 has blown them away. I did the same when I first moved to Tahoe back in the 70’s and storms like this were not uncommon. Back then playing was more important than clearing the snow. I had a big Dodge Ram 4x4 pickup and I j drove over the snow in my driveway and packed it down. I did not own a snowblower and can’t remember shoveling much. One year the packed snow was so high I could not get the truck under the carport.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) Governing Board on Wednesday unanimously approved Placer County’s Tahoe Basin Area Plan and the Tahoe City Lodge Project.

“This is the fourth area plan approved at Lake Tahoe and an important milestone for implementing the 2012 Regional Plan,” said Joanne S. Marchetta, executive director of TRPA. “With this plan, we can take significant steps to improve the environment and strengthen communities on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore.”

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - Tahoe Transportation District (TTD) has announced their buses in South Lake Tahoe will be on limited operations Monday, January 23 as the most recent storm makes its way out of the area.

South Lake Tahoe has experienced back-to-back major storms that left the roads narrow and difficult to negotiate safely.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif., - Tahoe Transportation District is suspending all transit services at noon on Sunday, January 22 due to current and expected weather, and road conditions.

All winter routes serving Heavenly Mountain Resort, routes 50, 53, 23, 20x, 19x and all on-demand response services will be suspended. This includes routes to, and around, the Carson Valley

It is unknown at this time when service will be resumed.

Twenty-five years ago, I finished my graduate work in Oregon and moved to Northern Nevada for a planning position at TRPA. Having spent a large part of my youth hiking and camping at Tahoe and in the Sierra, the move felt like coming home.

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) would like to thank the City of South Lake Tahoe for their preparedness in the face of severe weather last week. As one volunteer commented, “Everyone at the City of South Lake Tahoe was very nice, helpful, and willing.”