kings beach

7:30 p.m.update 2/23:
Floriston: After working nearly 24 hours and bringing in a second generator, attempts to provide temporary power have failed. Crews will begin to rebuild the line on Friday in this steep terrain with the goal of restored power by early Saturday morning.

River Road/Silver Creek/Fir Crags/Hwy 89: Crews were able to begin repairs today; a helicopter will come in tomorrow to complete with restoration expected late Friday/early Saturday.

Plans for an upgrade to the recreational facilities at Kings Beach State Recreation Area were unveiled during a public meeting last week. The project includes upgrades to the playground, restrooms, picnic areas, boat ramp and parking area, a relocation of the pier and the addition of an event area and stage, all over the next 20 years.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the California Tahoe Conservancy (Conservancy) held the meeting to get public feedback, and for those unable to attend the comment/feedback period is available online until February 15, 2017.

The Storm of 2017 is preparing to make its way out of the Lake Tahoe basin, but not before it deposits more snow on the ground as residents work on digging out their homes and cars from feet of snow.

The National Weather Service says the storm is the biggest to hit the region in six years.

If conditions are favorable, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service will continue prescribed fire operations on Tuesday, January 3, 2017. They will take place on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe near Tahoe City, Kings Beach, Carnelian Bay, and Incline Village.

A) Jennifer/Tyner Urban Fuels Reduction area near Incline Village will have 34 acres of hand piles scheduled to be burned.

B) Tahoe City along Fairway, across from NTFPD Station 51 - 8 acres to be burned.

C) Hwy 267 has 50 acres schedule for burning.

3::45 p.m. update: The Kings Beach man killed in an accident at Northstar has been identified as 35-year-old Dennis Baltimore, a ski instructor at the resort. His Facebook page says he was also once a Zipline Guide at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe.

According to reports, Baltimore had been on his skis on Village Run about 12:00 p.m. when a snowboarder in front of him hit a patch of ice and lost control. He tried to avoid the snowboarder but he crashed into rocks and a creek bed.

Funds in the amount of $6.8 million are headed to the California side of Lake Tahoe after the California Tahoe Conservancy Board accepted a federal grant on Thursday that will reduce wildfire risk. Fuel treatments on up to 1,800 acres of high fire risk areas of land owned by state and local jurisdictions as well as private property will occur over the next six years

Just after 7 a.m. on a recent Sunday, bumper-to-bumper traffic lined North Lake Boulevard in Kings Beach, a regular weekend sight in the community of about 4,000 people on Lake Tahoe’s north shore. While snow attracted the visitors on this weekend, just as many people show up in the summer to enjoy beaches and trails.

Approval of two major projects in recent months has heightened concerns about growth on the north shore, and it’s against this backdrop that Placer County supervisors will consider this week how development should occur in their corner of the Tahoe Basin.

Approximately $158 million was spent on Lake Tahoe water quality improvement projects around Lake Tahoe in 2016, and Caltrans is not done.

In 2017 two major projects will get underway, one on each end of the lake.

During the busy 2016 season, Caltrans and its contractors completed work on two projects on State Highway 89 and made significant progress on a third.

What happened in 2016:

NOTE: All lane closures are weather dependent and a storm is expected in the Lake Tahoe area Tuesday through Wednesday night, November 15-16.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

Chain controls are up on area roads this morning after the passing of a small storm overnight.

As of 7:00 a.m. Tuesday:
Highway 50 over Echo Summit: Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel / all wheel drive vehicles with snow treaded tires on all wheels from Meyers to Twin Bridges.

When one sees a vacant lot in the Lake Tahoe Basin with a California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) sign placed on a tree within its borders, it normally that means the parcel will remain vacant.

And in most cases, that is true.

In the basin, CTC owns 4,780 parcels of land totaling 6,400 acres, many of those parcels are about 1/4 acre in size. In the 1980s and 1990s, most of these smaller lots were purchased due to their being deemed environmentally sensitive. If a lot, or a portion of a lot, was once considered to be sensitive, they are permanently protected and cannot be built upon.

Millions of visitors and most residents interact with Lake Tahoe from the shoreline, and a plan is currently being created to protect it while also enhancing recreational access to the lake.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is inviting people to attend an upcoming community workshop on Thursday, November 3 to share input and ideas and help guide the creation of a Shoreline Plan. The workshop is open to the public and will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the TRPA offices in Stateline at 128 Market Street.

The following is a list of roadwork projects in the Sierra around Lake Tahoe for the next week. Please note, unexpected schedule changes may occur.

For current information on roadwork, delays, road conditions and emergency closures, call the voice-activated Caltrans Highway Information Network (CHIN) at 1-800-427-7623 (ROAD) or visit Caltrans’ “QuickMap” website at: http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

When heading west from Lake Tahoe Sunday, expect heavy traffic around Apple Hill due to seasonal enthusiasts.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

2016 is the 26th year that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has handed out its "Best in the Basin" award for projects in the Lake Tahoe basin that demonstrate exceptional planning and implementation and compatibility with Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities.

During Wednesday's TRPA board meeting in Kings Beach, the nine winners for the year were honored.

The City of South Lake Tahoe was one of those recipients for the Bijou Bike Park project, a collaborative effort between the City and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS
State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to just north of Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City that is upgrading storm water drainage and treatment systems, adding curb and gutter, resurfacing and realigning the road, adding new left-turn pockets and widening shoulders on an 8-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected by summer 2017.

A collaborative planning process to enhance and protect the 72 miles of Lake Tahoe shoreline has begun, and they would like public input to complete the plan.

There will be two workshops this fall to help guide creation of a Shoreline Plan that not only protects the scenic shoreline, but enhances recreational access to the lake.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) is seeking community input during the workshops which will be held on the North Shore on Wednesday, Sept. 21 and at the south end on Thursday, Nov. 3.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS
State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to just north of Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City that is upgrading storm water drainage and treatment systems, adding curb and gutter, resurfacing and realigning the road, adding new left-turn pockets and widening shoulders on an 8-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected by summer 2017.

The Village in Squaw Valley, a proposed redevelopment proponents say will reestablish the resort as a premier mountain resort destination and ensure its sustainable future, in on the agenda of the Placer County Planning Commission on Thursday, August 11.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to just north of Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City that is upgrading storm water drainage and treatment systems, adding curb and gutter, resurfacing and realigning the road, adding new left-turn pockets and widening shoulders on an 8-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected by summer 2017.

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

State Route 89 (Placer County): Work continues on a $70.1 million project from Tahoma to just north of Granlibakken Road in Tahoe City that is upgrading storm water drainage and treatment systems, adding curb and gutter, resurfacing and realigning the road, adding new left-turn pockets and widening shoulders on an 8-mile stretch of the highway. Completion is expected by summer 2017.

Thinning of trees for fuels reduction and forest health will resume on Thursday, July 7 on approximately 178 acres of National Forest System lands on the northeast side of Highway 267, north of Lake Vista Road above Kings Beach and Tahoe Vista. Mechanical whole tree removal will take place off Forest Road 16N52 over the next several months and the area will be closed for public safety.

Fire and law enforcement officers across the State are working together to confiscate illegal fireworks and get them off the street. In Placer County, an announced inspection of all vehicles going through the Truckee agricultural station netted 1,882 pounds of illegal fireworks, resulting in 20 misdemeanor citations and seven felony arrests.

In another operation, CAL FIRE joined a multi-agency fireworks seizure operation in San Bernardino County that resulted in the confiscation of 25,406 pounds of illegal fireworks, 51 misdemeanor citations issued, as well as two felony arrests.

After the July 4th festivities, our beaches are thrashed with trash. This trash can hurt wildlife and lake clarity. Be a part of the solution and help us this day to keep our beaches clean.

Join the League to Save Lake Tahoe and clean a beach. They will provide refreshments, cleanup bags, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Please bring your reusable water bottle, gloves if you have them, sunscreen, your friends and family, and a smile!

Each attendee will receive a raffle ticket for great prizes from Keep Tahoe Blue and our partners.

Join us at one of the following sites:

Long term projects:

June 12-17 - State Route 89 (Placer County) from Mankato Place to Cathedral Drive: Motorists can expect one-way traffic control at various locations around the clock from 10 p.m. Sunday until 10 a.m. Friday for roadway excavation, drainage work and curb and gutter construction.

June 13-17 - State Route 89 (El Dorado County) from Cascade Road to Cascade Creek: Motorists can expect one-way traffic control at various locations from 2 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday and 2 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday for shoulder work and permanent erosion control.