Echo Summit closure moved out to October 18, Caltrans tells those at public meeting

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Caltrans is now looking at October 18 as the beginning of a two-week closure of US Highway 50 at Echo Summit.

Over 100 people attended a public meeting hosted by Caltrans at the California Conservation Corps building in Meyers Thursday evening to hear and discuss the closure plan details and learn how to get local's passes for Johnson Pass Road. The Caltrans contractor on the project to replace the 80-year-old bridge on the top of Echo Summit has been working all summer and is nearing the final steps which will cause complete closure of the highway, the main artery between South Lake Tahoe and Sacramento.

The will be closed up to 14 days.

October 18 is still not the final date as the contractor is having trouble getting the needed girders from their supplier in Utah, Forterra Structural & Specialty Products. The 100-foot girder will be placed on top of the viaduct's new supports under the roadway.

Currently, there are one-way traffic controls in place weekdays 24/5, beginning Monday at 3:00 p.m. and ending at noon on Fridays. During this stage, travelers can expect a 20-minute delay. One week before the full closure workers will bring the road down to one-way escorted during all hours.

Caltrans officials will be at their Meyers maintenance yard for the week before closure during business hours to issue local's passes that will allow them to use Johnson Pass Road to move over Echo Summit. Many El Dorado County, law enforcement, construction employees live west of South Lake Tahoe and use the road daily between work and home.

Those wanting to have a local's pass will need to provide their physical address in Meyers, South Lake Tahoe or Echo Lakes or, proof of employment in South Lake Tahoe and a residence on the other side of the road closure. Employees living elsewhere but needing to get to work in the Echo Lake area will also be able to get a pass with proof of employment.

There will be escorted one-way traffic controls for vehicles traveling on Johnson Pass Road through the switchback. Vehicles must be under 25-feet long to access the road.

All others will use State Routes 88, 89 and 49 to get from the Bay Area or Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe. This route adds 40 miles onto their trip.

A website for this route,project and all updates has been created, Way2Tahoe.com. Caltrans will have electronic signs on Highway 50 in Sacramento and Placerville areas, advising of the one-mile full road closure on Echo and pointing them to their correct bypass route. They cannot send traffic to another non-state run route that many familiar with the area know could take them from Highway 50 to SR88, Mormon Emigrant Trail.

There is still a chance that the full closure will not happen in 2019. The contractor has financial incentive to get the work done this year, but if weather and supplies don't allow that they will have to figure out when in 2020 it can be finished. It would have to be done prior to Memorial Day or after Labor Day, and with the coming winter conditions unknown, prior to Memorial Day may not be feasible. Work can continue this fall if snow or rain starts.