Lake Tahoe 2035 transportation plan targets emission reduction strategies

Along with the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan Update, Mobility 2035, which is the Lake Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy, was also approved by regional boards last week at Harveys Resort convention center in Stateline.

Passage of the Sustainable Communities Strategy makes Tahoe the fourth region in the state of California to approve a plan that complies with new greenhouse gas emissions legislation, according to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization (TMPO).

Mobility 2035 is a coordinated transportation improvement plan that helps reduce the environmental impact of transporta­tion, create walkable, vibrant communities, and provide real al­ternatives to driving at Lake Tahoe. The plan updates the Transportation Element of the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan. It also meets the challenge of the California Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act (Senate Bill 375) by presenting an integrated land use and transportation strategy that will allow the Region to achieve targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, TRPA said today.

“Transportation touches every part of people’s lives,” TMPO Transportation Planning Manager Nick Haven said. “We need a regional system that promotes sustainability, enhances quality of life and offers improved options to getting around.”

Mobility 2035 coordinates nearly $1.6 billion in projects and funding that can transform certain cor­ridors into complete streets—a concept that improves mobility and safety for locals and visitors while delivering environmental improvements, such as stormwater infiltration.

The Sustainable Communities Strategy is a blueprint to integrate transportation, land use, and housing strategies in a way that helps Lake Tahoe meet environmental thresholds and emission reductions for cars and light trucks on the California side of the Basin.

The adopted plan forecasts that through targeted transportation improvement projects, as well as strategies to cluster population and employment in relatively compact town centers that are well served by transit and other infrastructure, per capita greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by seven percent in 2035. The Sustainable Communities Strategy also addresses environmental goals through monitoring of performance measures, and protection of natural resources through conservation and restoration of natural habitat.

Mobility 2035 was commended by ClimatePlan, a California environmental coalition working to support Senate Bill 375 implementation.

“As a vacation destination, the Lake Tahoe region has a unique set of transportation and land use challenges, but we are encouraged to see the variety of transportation strategies included in the Regional Transportation Plan,” ClimatePlan Director Autumn Bernstein wrote in a statement to the TRPA/TMPO Board. “The plan incorporates a number of exciting projects that will help residents and visitors have better transportation choices.”

The plan fulfills multiple requirements for federal, state, and regional transportation planning, and received approval on Wednesday, December 12 by three entities: the TRPA Governing Board, the TMPO Board and also the TRPA sitting as the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for the state of California. The updates were approved in conjunction with the Regional Plan Update and other environmental documents.

— Writer Jeff Cowen is a Communications Specialist for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. He can be reached at (775) 589-5278 or jcowen@trpa.org.