Camp Richardson light to remain "off line" indefinitely

CAMP RICHARDSON, SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After meeting with partner agencies, Caltrans has decided to discontinue the use of the pedestrian hybrid beacon crossing device on State Route 89 in Camp Richardson indefinitely.

In an effort to make for safe pedestrian passage across the highway and to manage traffic through the State Highway 89 corridor, Caltrans installed the beacons in 2016 but they were often confusing to drivers with its yellow and red light system.

It was used for much of the summer in 2017 but deactivated by the 4th of July holiday when backup traffic originating at the beacon became a focus of complaints.

Transportation officials are still looking at other ways to manager traffic in the area, including flaggers on busy weekends, new crosswalk signs or implementing new entry and exit procedures for local beaches this summer.

Caltrans recently met with staff from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and U.S. Forest Service and agreed not to reactivate the beacon until after the State Route (SR) 89 Recreation Corridor Management Plan is completed in 2019. The study will look at short- and long-term solutions to improve recreation travel on the corridor, including the Camp Richardson/89 intersection.

Among other data collection efforts, agency partners will be surveying residents and visitors in the Camp Richardson and Emerald Bay areas to better understand why, where and how people are traveling and what types of improvements the public would like implemented. Surveys will be offered in person, through mail and online.

For more information on Caltrans’ highway projects in the Tahoe Basin, go to TahoeRoads.com, follow @TahoeRoads on Twitter or "like" Tahoe Roads on Facebook. For real-time traffic, click on Caltrans’ QuickMap quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ or download the QuickMap app on iTunes or Google Play.