Colder temperatures delay paving Highway 50; Work expected into weekend

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - With below-average temperatures in South Lake Tahoe this week, the paving of the Highway 50 project has been delayed and may go into the weekend.

Mid-day Thursday it is still in the 30s though a high of 51 degrees is in the forecast. The low overnight will be 18 degrees.

The hot-mix asphalt HMA used on the road requires temperatures of 50 degrees and rising so paving has been moved to Friday and Saturday, weather permitting. Road crews are laying down the base Thursday, then starting on the HMA base Friday at 8:00 a.m. The high on Friday is forecast to be 62. Overnight Thursday crews will be on the road with "Loop Installation" beginning at 11:00 p.m.

Saturday crews are scheduled to start at 8:00 a.m. when the place down the HMA Cap. The temperature on Saturday is expected to top out at 64.

The work is part of an ongoing $56.9 million water-qaulity and roadway improvement project from the “Y” intersection with State Highway 89 to the Trout Creek Bridge.

Construction is taking place around the clock this week to grind the existing pavement down to the base and repave. Friday and Saturday’s work will take place in the westbound lanes from Trout Creek to Sierra Boulevard. Next Monday and Tuesday additional paving is scheduled for westbound 50 between Sierra Boulevard and Winnemucca Avenue and at the “Y” intersection.

It’s Caltrans’ final Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) project scheduled in the Tahoe Basin. New curbs, gutters and sidewalks are being built along with drainage systems to capture and treat stormwater runoff. The highway also is being widened to accommodate Class II bike lanes in both directions. The majority of the project, which started in 2017, will be completed this year, with some final work to take place next spring. Caltrans has constructed more than 20 EIP projects all around the lake at a cost of approximately $550 million.