New cannons to fight avalanches in South Lake Tahoe

Many people in Meyers and South Lake Tahoe heard "loud booms" early Tuesday afternoon. Those who have lived through winter recognized the sound as avalanche control cannons, but with no snow the reasons weren't clear.

Here is the story:

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) was installing new cannons to replace the 25-year-old equipment on Flagpole Mountain, home to the Echo Summit avalanche control operations.

Crews replaced three old cannons and installed two new ones, all clustered in the same location. With new cannons being smaller in size, Caltrans had to add the extra equipment to have the same affect in clearing the threat of avalanches to travelers on Highway 50 over Echo Summit.

Once installed, the new cannons had to be tested on Tuesday, and the sounds of "booms" along the South Shore were the results of these tests.

In other Caltrans news:

New light signals are being placed along US50/Lake Tahoe Boulevard at 3rd Street and Tahoe Keys Boulevard. All work on the stretch from the "Y" to Winnemucca Avenues in South Lake Tahoe should be completed by Thanksgiving.

On US50 west of Echo Summit at Bridal Veil Falls, work is wrapping up on a new 600-foot retaining wall. In February 2017, the westbound lanes deteriorated, making them unusable. Since then, crews have been building up the road and installing the wall at a cost of just under $10 million. Caltrans is waiting on a final inspection and all lanes should be open by Thursday, November 9, 2017.