Expect delays as Caltrans starts three month project over Echo Summit

Construction and maintenance work will cause day and night time traffic delays along a 45-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 50 between Camino and Echo Summit over the next three months, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has announced.

Crews will be setting up lane restrictions on the four-lane section of U.S. 50 in the Camino area and one-way traffic control on the two-lane stretch of highway over the summit. Motorists can expect up to 20-minute delays. These lane restrictions will continue through the end of November, weather permitting.

Caltrans will be removing hundreds of dead trees along the highway, paving a section of roadway over the summit and doing foundation drilling on Echo Summit.

Here is the schedule for these three projects:
• There will be one-way traffic control starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday, August 21, and continuing through 9 a.m. August 26 at the Echo Summit Bridge. Crews will be drilling into the foundation to gather information for plans to replace the bridge. Work will take a break for another construction project and resume in late September. Completion is expected on October 15.

• Around the clock one-way traffic control between Strawberry and Johnson Pass Road around Echo Summit is schedule to start at midnight August 29 and continue through mid-October. Crews will be doing pavement grinding and paving work.

• From September 6 through the end of November, motorists can expect lane restrictions and oe-way traffic control to occur at various times and locations betweem Braeburn Lane in Camino and Echo Summit. Crews will be removing hundreds of dead or dying trees impacted by the drought and the bark beetle infestation to ensure public health and safety.

NOTE: There will be no lane closures over the Labor Day weekend September 2-5.

Weather or unexpcted events may delay or prolong the closures. Caltrans advised motorists to "Be Work Zone Alert" The department will issue traffic updates on Twitter@TahoeRoads. Please visit the Tahoe Roads web page at http://www.tahoeroads.com For real-time traffic, click on Caltrans QuickMap at http://quickmap.com