USFS seeks public comment on Burke Creek restoration project

The U.S. Forest Service seeks input on their draft environmental assessment for the restoration for the Burke Creek Highway 50 Crossing and Realignment Project.

The first two phases of the proposed project would restore the Burke Creek channel and adjacent marsh, reduce the amount of sediment that flows into nearby Lake Tahoe and reduce the potential for flooding on U.S. Highway 50.

This project involves multiple agencies including Douglas County, the Nevada Department of Transportation, the Nevada Tahoe Resource Conservation District and the U.S. Forest Service. The project area is located on approximately 16.5 acres near Stateline, Nevada, including National Forest land near Kahle Drive, the commercial parking area located at 177 U.S. Highway 50, Douglas County land near the Kahle Drive Community Center and private property. Funding for the project will be provided by the Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada Division of State Lands, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and an erosion control grant from the LTBMU.

Phase I (2016 planned construction) would replace existing undersized culvert at US 50 with new culvert capable of safely conveying the 50 -year flow event; above US 50, remove approximately 9,000 square feet of parking lot, stabilize portions of existing Burke Creek channel, and construct new stream channel and floodplain; decommission legacy roads and trails on Sierra Colina property; install a stormwater conveyance and treatment improvements along the west side of US 50.

Phase II (2017 planned construction) would recontour and excavate to abandon the existing unstable channel and replace with geomorphically stable channel to tie into the new US 50 stream culvert outlet on USFS land.

Details of the environmental assessment are available for viewing here, or at the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of USFS at 35 College Drive in South Lake Tahoe.

The Forest Service will accept comments for 30 calendar days, until April 30, 2016.