Safety at Round Hill Pines Resort entrance focus of upcoming public meeting

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - Safety for visitors entering and exiting the Round Hill Pines Resort from U50 is the focus of a second public meeting on a project currently in the Environmental Assessment stage. The purpose of the project is to increase safety and improve accessibility for motorists, pedestrians, and bicycles entering and exiting the popular resort. HIghway planner say the major issues in the area are limited sight distance, unprotected turning movements across US50 and vehicle queuing in the eastbound inside lane of US50 during peak visitation periods

The Federal Highway Administration Central Federal Lands Highway Division, in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the Nevada Department of Transportation, is planning the project area which begins south of the existing entrance into the resort and extends north along US 50 for approximately 0.35 mile. The project is located in Douglas County near Zephyr Cove, Nevada.

The Round Hill Pines Resort is currently working on their own improvements to the resort area in a two-phase plan. Phase 1 is under construction and will be completed prior to beginning work on this project. Phase 2 within the resort includes relocating the entrance access location and connector roads, constructing two additional parking areas and maintenance roads. It also includes realigning the existing multi‐use path.

The project is needed because the current US50 entrance configuration into the Round Hill Pines Resort has safety concerns due to limited sight distance for vehicles traveling in both directions along US 50 and unprotected turning movements across US50. In addition to the current configuration, the Round Hill Pines Resort access road contains a narrow roadway width, steep grades, and sharp curves. This limits the flow for two-way traffic containing transit and recreational vehicles.

The Environmental Assessment (EA) is required by the National Environmental Policy Act. This assessment will investigate existing transportation conditions and identify and evaluate potential improvements and environmental impacts.

This public meeting is intended to provide those interested in or affected by this project with an opportunity to review the improvement options and make comments. Work on this project is currently in the environmental compliance and preliminary engineering phase. It is a follow-up to their April 2019 meeting.

The project is planned to be built from Spring – Winter 2021.

The meeting will be held at the following location and time:

Wednesday, September 25, 2019
5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Presentation: 5:15 p.m.
LTBMU Supervisor’s Office
35 College Drive
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150

For more information on the Round Hill Pines Access Project, please visit the project’s website at https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/nv/round-hill-pines/. Those unable to attend the meetings can provide input by contacting the project manager, Mr. Thomas Sohn, via email to thomas.sohn@dot.gov or by telephone at (720) 963-3637.