By Paula Peterson
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.- Phase 2 of the Pioneer Trail Pedestrian Improvement Project is slated to start in May 2024 and be finished by September 2024. The $4M project will create six-foot Class 2 bike lanes on each side of Pioneer Trail from Ski Run Boulevard to Larch Avenue, with five-foot sidewalks on each side, two 11-foot driving lanes, and a foot of gutters on each side. This project also includes pavement rehabilitation.
The project includes bus pullouts and new shelters, new mid-block crosswalks with a beacon alert system, new lighting for bike and pedestrian safety, landscaping, and intersection improvements.
South Lake Tahoe Public Works Director Anush Nejad held a public meeting Wednesday evening with the transportation planners on the project, CDM Smith out of Truckee.
So far, the project has completed NEPA and CEQA and still needs permits from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Lahontan Water Board. So far, 60 percent of the design is completed and a 90 percent design will be done by September.
The project will require a right-of-way process due to changes in the angle of some of the roads that intersect with Pioneer Trail, as well as the end of access to Pioneer Trail for Sonora and Willow Avenues. The streets with 45-degree angles at the intersection will become more perpendicular and the addition of curbs and landscaping will help calm traffic on those corners.
With the odd angles currently with many of the streets, vehicles are driven faster than safe and the project will cause calming/slowing of traffic and prevent vehicles from turning quickly.
The intersection of Wildwood and Markofer will be addressed with Markofer potentially becoming one-way with no turns allowed from Pioneer onto the road.
Grants, as well as state and federal funds are being used for the project with $250k-$500k being matched by the City of South Lake Tahoe. The project needs to be completed by September 2024 when the approved Active Transportation Grant runs out, a major portion of the $4M.
The Right-of-way process will take place in October/November 2023, and the project will go out for bid so it can be started in May 2024.