SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The City of South Lake Tahoe has a 15-page snow removal plan (seen here) that the public can read to know several things from snowplow response to different categories of snowstorms, what streets are done first, and the eight zones maintained by one crew per zone.
Anush Nejad, the City’s Public Works director, said residents can follow the South Lake Tahoe snow operations on their website and in the plan document so they know the procedures and can anticipate when their area will be plowed.
The city has eight plowing zones: Gardner Mountain, Tahoe Keys, Tahoe Island, Tahoe Sierra, Al Tahoe, Bijou, Heavenly, and Stateline. Within those zones are 129 centerline miles of roadway, or 255 lane miles. They do not maintain US-50, SR89, or areas outside of the City in El Dorado County. Nejad said half of the complaint phone calls they get are for areas outside of their jurisdiction.
Nejad said they’ve been fully staffed through the recent storms, contrary to rumors. There is one person per zone during the 12-hour day shift and another person per zone during the 12-hour night shift.
During this last storm, snow removal staff never took days off, Nejad said, and are working on their third straight week.
“It takes time to plow 250+ miles of roadway,” said Nejad.
If it has stopped snowing, all city streets can be plowed in the manner residents want right away, but if it is continuing as in the Christmas storm, they must constantly do the first step, one swipe down each street with a plow.
Once the first swipe is done and it stops snowing, equipment operators will then make the second visit down a street and then start to widen streets, reduce berms, and the blowers come out to expand the roadway to the maximum width allowed with allowance for snow storage.
The City has categories for the different levels of intensity of storms that set expectations for residents. The levels are based on predictions for one 24-hour operational period and come with different procedures, depending on the amount of snowfall. Category One is when less than 3” is expected, Category Two (3” to 24”), Category Three (24” to 36”), and Category Four (36” to 72”).
Most of the complaints received after the most recent storm are about the Category Four responses. This is described as a major storm with heavy snowfall accumulation rates, high winds, near-zero visibility, structural damage, and avalanche potential. Services into residential zones will certainly be delayed due to the amount of snow to push and re-accumulation rates. The potential for equipment failure increases significantly.
The City’s operational procedure during Category Four is to provide snow and ice control on all Priority 1 & 2 roadways only until they are safe enough to warrant travel into Priority 3 & 4 roadways unless requested by public safety services. The plow cutoff gates will not be utilized on the first and second pass on all routes.
As residents know, lane widths in the city limits were compromised until the plows could get all streets through a first swipe with no further accumulations. Category Four operations require continuous 12-hour
operational shifts as the City currently has.
Nejad said they received a lot of complaints about the plow cutoff gates not being dropped. The snow was over the gates and it wouldn’t have made a difference if dropped or not, he said.
“People don’t realize the gate is not effective when over four feet of snow,” said Nejad.
He said residents can partner with the city and make sure their driveways are clear at the end of every day. Gates can be dropped more often if there is no snow on a driveway. Another issue is the driveway of homes not occupied by the owners and not plowed by a service.
Another issue his staff had to deal with was cars left on the roads during the storm. They have had to stop and dig out eight cars so the vehicles could then be towed and operations could continue.
The snow removal priorities listed in the City’s snow plan:
PRIORITY 1 – Arterial – 16.50 total lane miles not including turn lanes, shoulders, and pull-outs. Arterial class roadways are intended to provide links across several neighborhoods or parts of the city and typically connect the city to adjacent jurisdictions. Arterial Roads are categorized as Priority 1 roadways for snow removal. The following roadways are classified as Arterial:
• Lake Tahoe Blvd. – City Limits to Hwy 89/50
• Al Tahoe Blvd. – Pioneer Trail to Hwy 50
• Heavenly Village Way – Hwy 50 to Montreal Road
• Park Avenue – Pine Blvd to Hwy 50
• Paloma Avenue – Nevada to Oakland
• Pine Blvd. – Park Ave. to Stateline Ave.
• Pioneer Trail – City limits to Hwy 50
• Saddle Road – Wildwood Rd. to Keller Rd.
• Ski Run Blvd. – Saddle Rd. to Hwy 50
• Wildwood Ave – Saddle Rd to Needle Peak Rd.
PRIORITY 2 – Collector – 41.58 total lane miles not including turn lanes, shoulders, parking zones and pull-outs. Collector Class Roads are intended to link neighborhoods to arterial streets. Collector Class roadways are
categorized as Priority 2 roadways for snow removal. The following streets are classified as collector:
• 10TH Street – Julie Ln. to Hwy 89
• 12TH Street – Hwy 89 to Tahoe Island Dr.
• 15TH Street – Hwy 89 to Venice Dr.
• 3RD Street – Hwy 50 to Washington Avenue
• 3RD Street – Hwy 50 to South Ave. * Priority Plowing – Hospital
• Ala Wai Blvd. – Tahoe Keys Blvd. to Monterey Dr.
• Alameda Ave. – Oakland Ave. to Bellevue Ave.
• Bellevue Ave. – El Dorado Ave. to Lakeview Ave.
• Blackwood Rd. – Pioneer Tr. to Glenwood Way.
• Chonokis Rd. – Pioneer Tr. to Montreal Rd.
• D St. – Lake Tahoe Blvd. to Hwy 50
• El Dorado Ave. – Oakland Ave to Bellevue Ave.
• Fairway Ave. – Johnson Blvd. to Glenwood Way.
• Fresno Ave. El Dorado Ave. to Lakeview Ave.
• Glenwood Way. – Pioneer Tr. to Fairway Ave.
• Herbert Ave. – Blackwood Rd to Lloyd Ave.
• Johnson Blvd. – Al Tahoe Blvd to Hwy 50 *Priority Plowing – Police Dept.
• Julie Ln. – Lake Tahoe Blvd. to 13th St.
• Keller Rd. – Saddle Rd. to Pioneer Tr.
• Lakeshore Blvd – Park Ave to Stateline Ave.
• Lakeview Ave. – Berkeley Ave. to Hwy 50
• Lily Ave. – .07M W/Bellevue Ave. to Bellevue Ave.
• Los Angeles Ave. – Argonaut Ave. to Hwy 50
• Lyons Ave – Hwy 50 to Rufus Allen Blvd.
• Martin Ave – CL .03M N/Barbara Ave. to O’Malley Dr.
• Montreal Rd. – Chonokis Rd. to NV Stateline
• Needle Peak Rd. – Ski Run Blvd. to Wildwood Ave.
• Oakland Ave. – S End to Lakeview Ave.
• O’Malley Dr. – Martin Ave. to Carson Ave.
• Park Ave. – Beach Rd. to Pine Blvd.
• Rubicon Trail – Hwy 50 to 707’ S of Springwood Dr.
• Rufus Allen Blvd. – Lyons Ave. to Hwy 50
• Silver Dollar Ave. – Hwy 50 to Springwood Dr.
• Ski Run Blvd. – Hwy 50 to Ski Run Marina
• South Ave. – Melba to 3rd St. * Priority Plowing – Hospital
• Springwood Dr. – Silver Dollar Ave. to Rubicon Trail
• Stateline Ave. – Lakeshore Blvd. to Hwy 50
• Tahoe Island Dr. – Washington Ave to 12th St.
• Tahoe Keys Blvd. – Hwy 50 to Ala Wai Blvd.
• Tamarack Ave. – Blackwood Rd. to Pioneer Tr.
• Thirteenth St. – Julie Ln. to Eloise Ave.
• Treehaven Dr. – END .04M W/Fremont Ave to Johnson Blvd.
• Venice Dr. – 15th St. to Tahoe Keys Blvd.
• Washington Ave. – Tahoe Island Dr. to Tahoe Keys Blvd.
• Wildwood Ave. – Pioneer Tr. to Lake Tahoe Blvd
PRIORITY 3 & 4 Local Class roads – 196.65 total lane miles. Local Class Roads (residential) are intended to provide access to individual properties within neighborhoods. Local classified roads are categorized as Priority 3 roadways for snow removal except for local roads containing cul-de-sacs and/or dead ends, in which case those roads are categorized as Priority 4 roadways for snow removal. Local class roads are defined as all roads within the city not included above as Arterial and Collector
classification (Priority 1 & 2).
Snow and ice removal operations on bicycle trails, sidewalks, and parking lots may also be contained within Priority 3&4 operations. Once all roads have been cleared, staff will begin the process of removing snow and ice from certain trails, sidewalks, and parking lots that operate year-round and are under the specific maintenance function of the city. Note: Class II bicycle lanes within certain city streets may not be useable until such time the city completes pushback, widening, and snow blowing activities. The city does not typically place traction abrasives on trails and sidewalks. Icing may be present, and caution is urged when using the trails and walks.
Unmaintained roads within the City: There are roads within the city that are either owned by other agencies, private, or not maintained by the city. The roads/areas described below are not maintained by the city.
• Adams Way
• Barbara Ave – El Dorado County
• Bijou Wagon Road – Private
• Bijou Street – Private
• Freel – Dirt Road – Private
• G Street Parallel to Hwy 50 – Caltrans
• Glen Road (upper portion) – Private Dirt Road
• Hamm Lane – Private
• Lighthouse Shores – Private
• Link Road – Private
• Lupine Way
• Nebelhorn Court
• Osgood Avenue – Ski Run to Sonora – Private
• Ski Run Blvd (above Saddle Road)
• Tahoe Meadows Subdivision – Private
• Tahoe Verde Mobile Home Park
• Van Sickle Road
• US Hwy 50 – Caltrans
• US Hwy 89 – Caltrans
• Viking Way – LTUSD
The current paved roadway area for the city totals approximately 19,473,215 square feet and the 254.73 lane mile distance translates to the distance from roughly South Lake Tahoe to Santa Cruz California.
Once the City plows have finished plowing and widening they’ll follow up with sand, and sometimes salt.