Information and education key to eliminating South Lake Tahoe traffic jams

With the massive traffic jam created by travelers trying to get out of South Lake Tahoe during the snowstorm January 31, several options have been discussed to prevent a repeat, especially with a large holiday crowd this weekend.

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel, South Lake Tahoe Police Chief Brian Uhler, Carol Chaplin and Sue Barton from Lake Tahoe Visitor's Authority, El Dorado County Sheriff John D'Agostini and Lt. Chris Lane of the South Lake Tahoe area office of the CHP all met Thursday with several others, trying to see how they can collectively help to prevent long lines of vehicles trying to get out of town after the weekend.

The meeting was a recap of the tele-conference initiated by South Lake Tahoe City Manager Nancy Kerry last week.

Smart phones with GPS and apps that guide drivers around traffic, tourists having been finding the surface street short cuts normally only known by locals.

"The situation is not going to go away," said Supervisor Novasel. "We will continue to see cars on North Upper Truckee when there are Highway 50 backups."

Since the county roads are public roads, and under the jurisdiction of the California Highway Patrol, Lt. Lane said he cannot restrict access to anyone unless there is an emergency.

"People have the right to travel," said Novasel.

One solution to aiding the driver has already been implemented. The Caltrans message boards that were installed in 2015 have changed their message. The signs displayed travel time to Strawberry and Pollock Pines, but now they'll list the travel times to Placerville and Sacramento, places the drivers will typically be driving through.

The group discussed ways to ease the traffic and communicating to the tourist how to not get stuck in it. Lodging properties are trying to stagger check-out times, desk clerks are advising people to put chains on while at the hotel or motel, thus relieving the backup in chain areas in Meyers. Some properties are offering lower Sunday rates to encourage Monday morning travel as well.

One suggestion that has been made is to have road controls go up in the city, so vehicles will already have their chains on, but that would affect all drivers, locals included. Another suggestion is to send some drivers over Hwy 88/89, but with an extra mountain to cross and a tendency for more avalanche controls, this isn't a feasible solution.

The success of any plan will be by educating, and communicating with, drivers how and when to leave.

The new signs are a start. Those, combined with the Caltrans Quickmap that displays message boards, cameras and CHP incidents along the whole route, and a continued conversation with the guests, the problem should be somewhat alleviated.

"Two weeks ago was just a perfect storm," said Novasel. Not only was there snow and chain controls, the road had to be closed for 42 minutes for avalanche control and Highway 80 over Donner Pass was closed.

Caltrans is paying for an extra CHP officer to be placed at the intersection of Hwy 50 and North Upper Truckee Road on busy travel days. Two weeks ago, one in five drivers that tried to get onto Echo Summit from this route did not have the required chains on their car, a dangerous situation for everyone. This added CHP officer will be watching for chains.

Novasel there isn't any one solution to the problem. Communicating to the visitor to have a longer stay is a start. Telling them sitting in traffic isn't necessary and leaving later will get them home at the same time.

After her meeting with the South Lake Tahoe group, Novasel went to Placerville to meet with the CHP commander there because the Strawberry area is under his jurisdiction. The massive number of cars pulled off the road to go sledding is also adding to the traffic problem.

"We can stop people from wanting to come to enjoy the snow," she said.

Attached to this story is a flyer being circulated by Caltrans to help inform and educate.