bike trails

Safety for cyclists and pedestrians is a big concern for the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD), cycling groups and those enjoying these activities.

In the last six years, 12 people have died in South Lake Tahoe while cycling or walking. In that same time, 42 people were injured while riding bikes on the road while 37 pedestrians were hurt.

Lake Tahoe’s 36th annual Valhalla Arts, Music & Theatre Festival opens June 17 at the historic lakefront Heller Estate (Valhalla) on the South Shore. Exclusive “one night only” performances will deliver a high caliber lineup of music and dance performances to Lake Tahoe’s arts and culture scene. Master Scottish Fiddler, Alasdair Fraser, will strike the first chord of the summer festival in Valhalla’s celebrated Boathouse Theater with Lake Tahoe as the backdrop, in a rare and highly anticipated solo performance.

Community members, school officials, local planners and agencies have been involved with the South Tahoe Middle School Connectivity Plan for months and the final plan will soon be available. The goal has been to create safer, more walkable and bikeable off highway routes around South Tahoe Middle School (STMS), Bijou Park and Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC). A $150,000 grant from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to the Lake Tahoe Unified School District got the activity in motion.

Boulder, Colorado has one. Portland, Oregon has one. Even Roseville and Truckee, California have one. If plans go as they appeared to during a presentation at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, South Lake Tahoe will soon have one.

What is it?

"It" is a combination BMX track and mountain bike skills park which will be located at the city owned Bijou Park.

Bijou Bike Park Association (BBPA) and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) President Ben Fish laid out the proposed plan to the Council and community.

Almost twenty years later and the Tahoe Valley Area plan isn't in place, yet. John Hitchcock, the City of South Lake Tahoe Planning Manager, gave the Council another presentation on the status of the plan and where things stand as of today during Tuesday's City Council meeting.

First proposed in the early 1990's, the resurrection of the Tahoe Valley Area plan made great strides towards adoption in 2014 with Hitchcock holding four public meetings where input was requested, presenting the plan to TRPA three times, three times to City Council and twice to the planning commission.

The following is a summary of accomplishments during 2014 by the City of South Lake Tahoe.

Strategic Priority: Fiscal Sustainability
The most important issue facing cities and local agencies is continued steadfast attention to the budget, both short term and long term fiscal impacts.

· Implemented “budget watch” approach to financial analysis; a year-long effort evaluating state, national and global economic impacts for South Shore economy, and capital investment opportunities

From exciting bike events to new world-class bike trails, 2014 was a great year for biking in Lake Tahoe. In no particular order, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition presents ten of the best highlights from the past 12 months:

Have you noticed the new, blue signs placed along some of the South Lake Tahoe bike trails? They are part of a pilot way finding sign project to help cyclists between Kingsbury Grade and Meyers.

There are currently eight signs up in four locations, so people using the trails can see the directions from opposing views.

According to Steve Noll, community planning consultant with Design Workshop, “the international best practices for way finding signs consist of four elements known as 'The Four D’s: distance, direction, destination and distinction'."

There is a new way to enjoy two lakes with just a quick bike ride along the bike trail just completed by the U.S. Forest Service.

The Fallen Leaf Bike Path connects cyclists from the Fallen Leaf Lake Campground to the Pope Baldwin National Recreation Trail. The trail offers riders a safe and exciting alternative.

As reported by South Tahoe Now in April, the new trail also provided installation of bmps, upgrades, reconstruction and relocation of adjacent unauthorized trails.

Several stretches of bike trails in South Lake Tahoe will receive some much needed attention in July when 2.6 miles of trails are restored.

The Class 1 Bicycle Trail Rehabilitation Project will use funds from Measure R ($250,000) and $475,452 grant funding through Caltrans Bicycle Transportation Authority to fix the 20 year old trails.

July 7th will be the project's starting date and all is expected to be completed around August 9th.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe is looking for cyclists to join their Climate Ride California team to cycle through wine country May 17-20, 2014. Riders will help raise awareness of climate change, alternative modes of transportation and the effort to Keep Tahoe Blue.

League staff member Seth Chanin will be captaining Team Keep Tahoe Blue.

Lake Tahoe, CA/NV – The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) in its role as the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization (TMPO) announced today the opening of the first application period for the On Our Way Community Grant Program to help Lake Tahoe community organizations and local governments identify transportation and other improvements that improve walking and biking or support economic vitality.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is marking this year’s Lake Tahoe Summit by highlighting the Environmental Improvement Program’s 15 years of achievement restoring and protecting Lake Tahoe’s fragile ecosystem.

Launched at the 1997 Presidential Forum at Lake Tahoe by then President Bill Clinton, and Vice President Al Gore, the Environmental Improvement Program (EIP) is a partnership of more than 50 federal, state, and local agencies, private interests, and the Washoe Tribe.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the U.S. Forest Service and the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association have been working together for a couple of years to improve mountain bike trails all while protecting the natural resources of our local forests. Lake Tahoe is a special place, loved and used by millions of visitors each year from around the world. The local forest service has been at the forefront of working collaboratively with user groups and the public to ensure that protecting the environment of this special place, still allows for uses that are compatible and fun.

On the question of whether the Homewood Mountain Ski Area Resort, a ski area on Lake Tahoe’s West Shore, can be revitalized, the U.S. District Court validated all of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s environmental findings in the decision on the Sierra Club’s lawsuit challenging the project. The court remanded the case back to TRPA on one very limited issue concerning the adequacy of the economic analysis related to one of the alternatives studied, TRPA officials said.

The network of mountain bike trails in the Lake Tahoe Basin is steadily growing and becoming more sustainable thanks to the U.S. Forest Service, the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association and a ...

The Tahoe Fund is encouraging supporters of Lake Tahoe to break out their croquet whites for a good cause. The environmental non-profit is preparing for its 2nd Annual Founders Circle Summer Dinner, to be held at Edgewood Tahoe’s historic Friday’s Station on Sunday, August 12th. Billed as a night to celebrate the organization’s early funders and the Lake, the event will include “Tahoe Croquet” and a gourmet dinner on the lawn. Senators Feinstein, Heller and Governor Brown have all confirmed their attendance.

As David Letterman rhetorically asks: Hey kids, do you like the rock n' roll? Two outdoor concert venues at South Lake Tahoe will be filled with superstar performers, plus there's dozens of outdoor competitions and family events, fireworks extravaganzas and the country’s biggest celebrity golf tournament that has Tahoe South positioned as summer’s hot spot for entertainment, outdoor recreation and events.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - In the super-abridged version of the story, Jeff Potter complained to Carson City supervisors in 2006 that more mountain bike trails were needed in the area. Their response: ...

The non-profit Tahoe Fund has engaged Olive Grove Consulting of Belmont, CA to conduct a search for the Fund’s founding Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Over the next 10 years the CEO will be responsible for raising and distributing $50 million to restore and enhance the Lake, including work on bike trails, restoration projects, interpretive programs, public parks and related projects. Founded in 2010, Tahoe Fund raises private money to supplement the limited public funding available for such efforts.

The South Shore's recreation Joint Powers Authority (JPA) is seeking applicants to serve on its Bicycle Trail Advisory Committee and its Fields Advisory Committee.
As part of Measure R, passed last month to provide funding for both ballfields and bike trails in the community, committees to advise the JPA on the their needs and various relevant issues must be formed. The committees will consist of seven members each.

By Jeff Munson
The fight is pure Tahoe: A project proposed to improve the environment versus a group of people who don't want things to change.
Mud has been thrown, sides are dug in, and lawsuits are likely looming with the proposed reconfiguration of the Lake Tahoe Golf Course as it backs up to Washoe Meadows State Park and Recreation Area.

Tahoe City Public Utility District's network of bike trails that extend from Tahoe City to Dollar Hill, Olympic Valley and down the West Shore have long been a patchwork of trail systems that go f...