Have you noticed the 45 mph signs missing from Strawberry?

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Anyone heading to, or leaving from, South Lake Tahoe on US50 knows the historic spot along the route - Strawberry. Sitting about 20 miles to the west of the lake, thousands of cars drive through each week, most just passing through.

The speed limit on US50 is 55 mph, but for years the speed limit through Strawberry was 45 mph due to the lodge, store, and residents in the area. That is no longer the case.

As I drove through Strawberry this September I noticed the 45 mph signs were gone. By habit, I reduced my speed but noticed on the return trip that the speed limit sign was missing. I called CHP-Placerville and asked Caltrans why the speed limit changed.

It took a few weeks to get a reply, but here it is:

Caltrans discovered the original Engineering and Traffic Study (E&TS) done in 2013 for Strawberry was "incorrect" and their Traffic Safety unit and further investigation determined that based on motorist behavior this section of Highway 50 did not support a 45 mph speed limit.

They rectified the situation by allowing the E&TS to expire in 2020. The speed zone was reverted to the maximum speed limit of 55 mph for a two-lane rural highway at that time, but the signs remained until recently.

"There was some miscommunication between Maintenance and Traffic Safety in having the 45 mph signs removed," explained John O'Connell of Caltrans.

"At one point they were removed [the sign] but then Maintenance put them back up, unaware of the change back to 55 mph until Traffic Safety clarified with them earlier this year of the change back to 55," said Steve Nelson of Caltrans.

In 2018, CHP Placerville asked Caltrans to participate in a video after a teen was hit by a car on US50 in Strawberry as he crossed the roadway between the store and the lodge. The video was made due to the incident, and at that time it was still signed as 45 mph.

I shared that video with Caltrans while investigating the speed limit change, and it has since been removed from the CHP Placerville Facebook page.

Caltrans said they asked CHP to remove the video due to "the inaccurate information we weren’t aware of when we filmed it."

In a 2019 Caltrans "Speed Zone Justification" memo, a traffic operations engineer stated there were 10 accidents in the .90-mile stretch over three years (2016-2019). The actual collision rate is 0.94 ACC/MVM (accidents per million vehicle miles) and the statewide average rate is 1.38 ACC/MVM.

In the E&TS, eastbound cars were going 61, 60, 58, and 59 mph through the 45 mph zone, and westbound were traveling 55, 58, 57, and 61 mph. Because of this, and using Caltrans engineering judgment, they rescinded the 45 mph and reverted to the maximum for a two-lane rural highway, 55 mph. If most cars are traveling above a speed limit the study says it could be considered a "speed trap."