Lake Tahoe Boulevard Class I Bicycle Trail approved, construction starts in May

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - During its meeting on Tuesday, the South Lake Tahoe City Council approved the final expenses for the Lake Tahoe Boulevard Class 1 Bicycle Trail from Viking Way to the Y.

The lane configuration has been in place for the past year, creating one lane in each direction and a center turn lane, now the actual bicycle lanes with paving and striping will be constructed.

Sierra Nevada Construction (SNC) was the selected contractor. The project engineer’s estimate for the bid was $3,591,147.92, but the two bids received by the City were above that amount. The lowest was submitted by SNC at $4,634,007.

They are currently planning on starting construction on May 1, 2022, but if everything is ready before then and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency approves a grading season exception, they could start sooner. The project will take an estimated 3.5 months to complete.

"We would like to maximize the amount of this project that is built before the busy summer session starts in order to minimize delays to the public," said Randy Carlson, City of South Lake Tahoe associate civil engineer.

Most of the funds for the project come from grants the City applied for:
Active Transportation Program (ATP) - $744,000
Highway Infrastructure Program (HIP) - $756,000
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) - $268,775
Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) - $1,473,000
($323,612.92 of those grants required matching funds)

Since the grants total $3,241,775, the shortfall will be covered by the following funding:

Remaining Funds from the Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets Project - $348,039
General Fund Undesignated Excess Reserve - $685,418.08
Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) FY 21/22 Funds - $432,712

The Council voted to appropriate $1,009,031 from available General Funds Undesignated Excess Reserves to be used for the local grant match requirements and the shortfall.

Under the advisement of Public Works Director Anush Nejad, Council decided not to spend the extra $250,000 estimated expense it would take to place conduit along the construction area. They have a "dig once" policy to do so, but Nejad didn't recommend it for this project until the City has a comprehensive plan in place for conduit and broadband. He said placing it now just for the sake of "digging once" may not meet future goals and would be a waste. He suggested they could look at a possible trenchless system for the future which would be cheaper and meet possible future needs, but only once the plan is developed.

The City of South Lake Tahoe Public Works Department, in partnership with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization (TMPO), the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD), the Community Mobility Group, and the Bicycle Coalition developed strategies to focus future available alternative transportation grants towards the elimination of gaps in the existing bicycle and pedestrian mobility network on priority routes.

One such gap in the bicycle network is along Lake Tahoe Boulevard from Viking Way to the Y. The completion of this trail connection will enable cyclists and pedestrians to commute from Meyers to the Y while never riding or walking within the vehicular travel lane. Once at the Y, users will have the ability to access the transit station, commercial core, and the remaining crosstown bikeways and the Greenway project coming soon that will start on the other side of the Y.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - During its meeting on Tuesday, the South Lake Tahoe City Council approved the final expenses for the Lake Tahoe Boulevard Class 1 Bicycle Trail from Viking Way to the Y.

The lane configuration has been in place for the past year, creating one lane in each direction and a center turn lane, now the actual bicycle lanes with paving and striping will be constructed.

Sierra Nevada Construction (SNC) was the selected contractor. The project engineer’s estimate for the bid was $3,591,147.92, but the two bids received by the City were above that amount. The lowest was submitted by SNC at $4,634,007.

They are currently planning on starting construction on May 1, 2022, but if everything is ready before then and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency approves a grading season exception, they could start sooner. The project will take an estimated 3.5 months to complete.

"We would like to maximize the amount of this project that is built before the busy summer session starts in order to minimize delays to the public," said Randy Carlson, City of South Lake Tahoe associate civil engineer.

Most of the funds for the project come from grants the City applied for:
Active Transportation Program (ATP) - $744,000
Highway Infrastructure Program (HIP) - $756,000
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) - $268,775
Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) - $1,473,000
($323,612.92 of those grants required matching funds)

Since the grants total $3,241,775, the shortfall will be covered by the following funding:

Remaining Funds from the Sierra Boulevard Complete Streets Project - $348,039
General Fund Undesignated Excess Reserve - $685,418.08
Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) FY 21/22 Funds - $432,712

The Council voted to appropriate $1,009,031 from available General Funds Undesignated Excess Reserves to be used for the local grant match requirements and the shortfall.

Under the advisement of Public Works Director Anush Nejad, Council decided not to spend the extra $250,000 estimated expense it would take to place conduit along the construction area. They have a "dig once" policy to do so, but Nejad didn't recommend it for this project until the City has a comprehensive plan in place for conduit and broadband. He said placing it now just for the sake of "digging once" may not meet future goals and would be a waste. He suggested they could look at a possible trenchless system for the future which would be cheaper and meet possible future needs, but only once the plan is developed.

The City of South Lake Tahoe Public Works Department, in partnership with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization (TMPO), the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUSD), the Community Mobility Group, and the Bicycle Coalition developed strategies to focus future available alternative transportation grants towards the elimination of gaps in the existing bicycle and pedestrian mobility network on priority routes.

One such gap in the bicycle network is along Lake Tahoe Boulevard from Viking Way to the Y. The completion of this trail connection will enable cyclists and pedestrians to commute from Meyers to the Y while never riding or walking within the vehicular travel lane. Once at the Y, users will have the ability to access the transit station, commercial core, and the remaining crosstown bikeways and the Greenway project coming soon that will start on the other side of the Y.