NDOT continues to work on US 50 Corridor safety project - expects final plan at beginning of 2023

STATELINE, Nev. - For almost two years the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has conducted nearly 50 stakeholder meetings as well as had contact with individuals and listening sessions to gather input on the U.S. 50 Tahoe East Shore Corridor Management Plan.

During the listening sessions, some residents expressed concern over the reconfiguration of the highway from four lanes to two lanes, with new turn lanes in three high-crash and constrained locations.

"All public feedback is valuable and is a critical component of how NDOT evaluates our studies and future projects," said Meg Ragonese, NDOT Public Information Officer. NDOT has been working on safety solutions for the stretch of highway from Stateline to Spooner for over seven years.

The team working on the plan presented it to the state transportation board. They were then going to present a plan to the Douglas County County Commissioners earlier this month but pulled back to further review the proposed plan due to numerous public comments.

"We want to ensure recent public feedback is incorporated into our U.S. 50 Tahoe East Shore Corridor Management Plan," added Ragonese. "We are currently reviewing study-related public feedback received during the November and December 2022 state transportation board meetings. The feedback will be considered as part of the final recommendations within the U.S. 50 Tahoe East Shore Corridor Management Plan."

NDOT says coordination with local government partners and stakeholders continues to be critical. Following up on previous meetings held over the past year and a half, NDOT plans to present to Douglas County, Tahoe Transportation District, and Tahoe Regional Planning Agency boards over the coming months.

They expect to finalize the plan over the first three months of 2023, including consideration of recent feedback from community members, as well as feedback from upcoming local government board meetings.

Background

One of the key goals of the US-50 plan is to enhance access to safely get on and off the highway while reducing potentially dangerous, excess speeds seen on the highway.

During the listening sessions NDOT gathered public feedback on the highway, including community concerns with speeding, on-highway parking, access to and from the highway and more.

The community feedback was used to develop initial high-level concepts for public review. Public input on the initial concepts have been incorporated into vehicle, transit and multi-modal strategies to enhance roadway travel and safety for all. On Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, the third in a series of listening tours provided community members an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed highway improvement strategies.

NDOT's key takeaways from previous listening tours include:

- There is consensus that something needs to be done to address traffic safety and access concerns on U.S. 50. Most we spoke to during the spring listening tour are in favor of lowering operating speeds and adding turn lanes.
- The concept of lane reductions received mixed feedback. Some are in favor while others asked if it has the potential to create traffic gridlock.
- There is consistent support for eliminating roadside parking on US50, intersection improvements at SR28, and roadside multimodal improvements south of Elks Point Road.

Proposed Corridor Concepts

The following is from Ragonese:

Traffic safety is our top priority. In three high-crash and constrained locations, we propose to reconfigure the highway to two lanes, with new turn lanes. This will help provide safer access to and from the highway, and will also bring travel speeds down closer to the existing speed limit (45mph). Those segments proposed for lane reconfiguration make up approximately one quarter of the corridor length. Our modeling shows the reconfiguration will take an additional two minutes to travel through as part of the full 13-mile corridor.

The roadway reconfigurations are focused on reducing operating speeds closer to the posted speed limit, but not to the point of congestion. The proposed lane configurations will have adequate capacity for average peak traffic projected to the year 2045. When combined with strategies such as turn lanes and removing roadside parking on U.S. 50, the roadway should operate safer, more reliably, and provide a smoother flow of traffic during peak visitation periods.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) notes that typical roadway reconfigurations can reduce crashes between 19 percent and 47 percent. Some of the other benefits include:

- Reduction of rear-end and left-turn crashes due to dedicated left-turn lanes.
- Reduced right-angle crashes as side street motorists cross fewer travel lanes.
- Fewer lanes for pedestrians to cross.
Opportunity to install pedestrian refuge islands, bicycle lanes, on-street parking, or transit stops.
Traffic calming and more consistent speeds.
- A more community-focused, Complete Streets environment that better accommodates the needs of all road users.

The strategies contained in the final corridor management plan will be considered and prioritized as part of any future projects on the corridor.