SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – In the movies, the Yellow Brick Road leads to the Emerald City, and if one wishes to go home, they can simply click their ruby slippers together. At Lake Tahoe, it isn’t that simple when wanting to visit beautiful Emerald Bay. There is no easy Yellow Brick Road, and moving about isn’t a simple click of the heels.

The Wizard of Oz highlights the importance of supporting each other and working together to achieve common goals, as Dorothy and her companions learn to rely on each other’s strengths. 

Insert multiple agencies doing just that and working together with El Dorado County Supervisor Brooke Laine to find a solution to haphazard and unsafe parking on SR89 at Emerald Bay that sometimes brings traffic to a halt.

The SR89 Corridor Plan was created in 2018 and with it came great data and recommendations. In 2024 Laine asked why nothing was being done with the plan, and she brought together a large group – 45 people from agencies including Caltrans, California State Parks, US Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Tahoe Transportation District, South Shore Transportation Management Association, California Highway Patrol (CHP), Placer County, El Dorado County, City of South Lake Tahoe, and the Lake Tahoe Visitor’s Authority (LTVA). Laine didn’t want them to come together over Zoom, so they met in person to make a plan for the Emerald Bay segment of SR89. Since the first meeting the League to Save Lake Tahoe (Keep Tahoe Blue) and Tahoe Fund have come on board.

Laine got everyone’s input on why something should be done around the popular destination at Emerald Bay. She said she got total consensus that something needed to be done, and they broke into two working groups – one on transit and the other focused on parking. They came back together two weeks ago, and this past week they created final plans for a pilot program for the summer of 2025 from July 15 to October 15.

First Caltrans has to conduct a Road Safety Audit (RSA) for this area. It will be conducted until mid-July so it will be able to gather information from a portion of the busy season. Results from the RSA will be shared with stakeholders and recommendations will be created for short–, mid-, and long-term improvements will be created. The team recommendation may include “no parking” signs.

There has never been an RSA conducted at Emerald Bay, so this will be a first. The last estimate of travelers going through this section was done in 2014, and data showed that 1.8 million annually use it. Data from other sources estimate the average stay at Emerald Bay is three hours with 80 percent of them tourists, 20 percent locals, and an average of 3.3 people per vehicle. 58 percent of those along the corridor at Emerald Bay are there for a day hike, 16 percent for the beach, and seven percent for a quick photo opportunity.

Before the results of the RSA are analyzed and a recommended plan is unveiled, the Laine-led collaboration will start the 90-day pilot project.

Parking will not be allowed on SR89 from Inspiration Point to DL Bliss State Park except for the lined parking lots at Inspiration Point, Eagle Falls, and Vikingsholm.

A shuttle will be available for riders coming from the south at Camp Richardson and from the north at Homewood. Data shows most visitors at Emerald Bay come from the South Shore, then return to the South Shore with approximately four percent making the journey around the lake. One-third of the visitors come from the northern part of the lake. The two areas for the beginning points of the shuttles were chosen due to the nearby bed/campsite base, though the southern route could be expanded to the South Y Center prior to the implementation of the pilot program. After the successful completion of the project this summer, those locations could expand. Laine said there could be a dedicated “beach bus” to transport people from the tourist core to local beaches, but that isn’t included in the pilot program this year.

Laine said their surveys show most visitors to Emerald Bay make plans to visit that area of Lake Tahoe two days prior to visiting. There will be an information campaign for visitors including electronic signs to alert drivers that there is no parking at Emerald Bay.

The shuttle will have a fee involved to pay for the service, but the amount has not been set yet. A 90-day contract is being signed with the Downtowner to run 14-passenger vans daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Depending on the final option chosen, the shuttles could deliver 210 people per day Monday-Thursday, and 454 people Friday-Sunday.

To ensure people are abiding by the no parking rules, a dedicated CHP officer will be located on the roadway in July and August and is paid for by the pilot program group partners. Normally, people would park over the solid fog line, in the dirt, or in every possible spot a car may, or may not, fit. Metal bollards will be placed along the stone wall, giving pedestrians a small pathway should they want to walk from Inspiration Point to Vikingsholm, or from D.L. Bliss to Vikingsholm.

CHP issued 1350 tickets for illegal parking at Emerald Bay in 2023, and 1509 in 2024.

Laine says if they find one part of the plan not working well during the pilot, they are able to make changes right away.

The shuttle system will have a naming contest led by LTVA, Keep Tahoe Blue, and the Tahoe Fund.

As more details are finalized, information will be shared about the first of many plans to improve the SR89 transportation corridor, including water taxis.