storm drain

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It's been a long summer of road construction in South Lake Tahoe and it is coming to an end, leaving behind a new Sierra Boulevard and Highway 50 and synchronized lighting on the highway.

Both Caltrans and the City of South Lake Tahoe applied for an extension to the October 15 seasonal grading end and they have through the end of October to finish up their projects.

Paving operations are nearly complete on Sierra Blvd. The contractor, Herback General Engineering, will be performing some corrective paving work through the week.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There are still about two months left of scheduled roadwork around the Lake Tahoe Basin before winter hiatus. The following are the Caltrans projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin and El Dorado County:

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

U.S. Highway 50 (El Dorado County): Work continues on a $5.2 million project to upgrade metal beam guardrail and construct concrete barriers at 89 locations from the Red Hawk Undercrossing to 1.9 miles west of the junction with State Route 89 in Meyers. Completion is expected in spring 2020.

The Nevada Department of Transportation has wrapped up the first in a series of overnight full road closures on State Route 28 ahead of schedule and will not need to close again tonight, May 1.

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - The final stage of the three-plus mile shared-use path from the southern end of Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park along SR28 will begin on April 22, ending a four-year, multi-agency water quality and traffic safety improvement project.

LAKE TAHOE, Nev. - There will be full road closures on State Route 28 south of Incline Village for two nights this week so the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) can install bridges on the new shared used path.

Both directions of SR 28 will be closed between Lakeshore Boulevard in southern Incline Village near Tunnel Creek Café and Sand Harbor State Park from 8:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. nightly Dec. 11 to Dec. 13. The road closures are scheduled for overnight hours to reduce impact on heavy daytime traffic. The closures are weather dependent and subject to change.

STATELINE, Nev. - Lane closures in place on Kingsbury Grade (SR 207) this summer have been removed now that the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) has substantially completed a project to enhance roadway drainage pipes on the Carson Valley side of the road.

Motorists can still expect some intermittent minor shoulder and other closures.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Originally planned to wrap up this week, work on the large construction project along US 50 will continue until the end of October, weather permitting.

Expect lane closures along the road (also known as Lake Tahoe Blvd.) near Winnemucca Avenue to Silver Dollar Avenue. No detours will be in place. Expect heavy traffic and delays.

Grinding and paving work was completed on Friday, October 5. Caltrans and its contractors are working hard to finish this stretch of the new storm drain system project.

There are still trout in the Lake Tahoe Basin, but soon there will no longer the large trout sculpture that for years has greeting people to the town of North Lake Tahoe.

The iconic 21-foot trout sculpture has been sitting in the island intersection between State Route 89 and State Route 28 along with the Williamson Tree and Rotary Club flagpole.

Roadway drainage pipe improvements on Kingsbury Grade (State Route 207) began this week, the second scheduled season of improvements.

The Nevada Department of Transportation this week completed the second construction season of the State Route 28 Shared Use Path, Water Quality and Safety Improvement Project near Incline Village. The entire project is anticipated to complete in late 2018 or early 2019, depending on weather.

Construction on U.S. Highway 50 in South Lake Tahoe has been extended through the end of October, weather permitting.

Expect lane closures near the "Y" to Winnemucca Avenue. No detours will be in place so expect heavy traffic and delays.

Caltrans announced Tuesday they are working hard to finish this stretch of the new storm drain system project, suggesting drivers to plan ahead and #BeWorkZoneAlert.

"Thanks for your patience as we work to help protect Lake Tahoe's water and keep it clean for generations to come," said Caltrans.

ZEPHYR COVE, Nev. A sink hole appeared in the slow lane of westbound Highway 50 near Zephyr Cove on Friday, prompting closure of the roadway for much of the day. The hole, about three-feet wide, may have been created by erosion from a storm drain under the pavement.

The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) plans to fill temporarily fill and repave the hole with roadway base and paving materials with the goal of reopening the lane for weekend travel.

Motorists can expect periodic lane closures through the coming weeks as the sinkhole is repaired.

Sierra Boulevard is about to get a whole new look that will include a better experience for bicyclists and pedestrians, streetlights and water quality improvements.

During Tuesday's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, NCE, Inc. was awarded a contract to design the project which will run from Barbara Avenue to Palmira Avenue. They will be paid up to $610,110.

Potholes in our streets are a popular discussion item in Tahoe. Some potholes are simply holes in the asphalt paving, while others are actually low spots located over a utility pipeline. This summer, several articles have addressed potholes at various lengths. The South Tahoe Public Utility District (District) would like to provide some information concerning the “utility” potholes. There are multiple types of “utility” potholes:

1. Manhole structure on sanitary sewers (stamped STPUD)
2. Manhole structure on storm drain sewers (usually slotted)

A Nevada Department of Transportation project to repave and enhance Kingsbury Grade last year has received a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Best in the Basin Award.

The project substantially completed ahead of schedule in 2014, and was recognized as a water quality and erosion control improvement that helped enhance the Lake Tahoe environment.

There were just a few residents in attendance at Tuesday's construction kickoff meeting about the City of South Lake Tahoe's Sierra Tract Erosion Control Project, Phases 3 & 4. The project will reduce erosion and sediment discharges in to the Upper Truckee River and Lake Tahoe.

City planners and the contractor were on hand to present the building schedule and explain what residents will experience over the next two building seasons.

The Nevada Department of Transportation’s Carson City Freeway Project has reached an important milestone with the recent opening of construction contract bids for the project’s final leg.

Road and Highway Builders’ approximately $42 million bid was named as the apparent low bid for the project. Final bid approval and contract execution will take place in future weeks, with the contract pending ultimate approval at the state transportation board’s May 11 meeting.

The City wants to recover some of the fees involved in the enforcement of a state mandated stormwater program which requires them to ensure commercial businesses are not discharging waste or pollutants into the storm drain system.

Keeping grease, oil and other contaminants out of the system is the goal of the program. Jason Burke, the City's Stormwater Program Coordinator, told the City Council on Tuesday that he will provide outreach and education to the high profile businesses that use grease and oil on a daily basis.

The $15 million Kingsbury Grade repaving and enhancement project finished one year ahead of schedule, according to a Nevada Department of Transportation announcement Thursday.

Major work on the project was expected to be completed during the Summer, 2015, but instead NDOT announced that it was substantially completed this week.

Volunteers have completed marking all the storm drains in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood and marina with metal “No Dumping — Keep Tahoe Blue” signs. Over 40 volunteers with the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s Stewards of Stormwater program marked 180 drains over several days in August and September, making it the first neighborhood at Tahoe to mark all its drains.

Looking for a project you can help out with that makes a different? If so, the second Stewards of Stormwater event might be for you.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe is inviting community members to help mark storm drains and prevent pollution from entering Lake Tahoe on August 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Tahoe Keys.

The League is hosting the event in partnership with the City of South Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association.

Location

The League to Save Lake Tahoe received a grant Monday from Wells Fargo and Company as part of a $3 million Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grant program across 64 community-based nonprofits nationwide to help support land and water conservation, energy efficiency, infrastructure and educational outreach.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe will be giving a presentation on the evenings of March 13-14 about Pipe Keepers, a new volunteer monitoring program.

Pipe Keepers is a volunteer based monitoring program that examines turbidity (clarity) of water that enters Lake Tahoe and its tributaries through storm drains.

Created in response to a resident’s concerns about a neighborhood storm pipe discharging dirty looking water directly into Lake Tahoe, Pipe Keepers began in the Fall of 2012 with trained local volunteers sampling outflow from storm drain pipes throughout the Tahoe Basin.

Construction has wrapped up on three roadwork projects in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin, Caltrans reports Wednesday in a news release. The projects were designed to improve water quality and traffic safety in the region.