department of transportation

The celebratory crowd at Stateline was once again a small crowd, estimated by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office to be between 5,000-10,000. The road through the casino corridor didn't have to close until 11:58 p.m.

Anyone on the roads today noticed a big influx of travelers, both inside the Tahoe basin and on the state's highways.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) advises motorists that experts are predicting a slight increase in all methods of travel nationwide, with about 47 million people traveling either by car or airplane for the Thanksgiving holiday.

El Dorado County Sheriff's Office responds to calls throughout the county.

The following are calls that only pertain to the South Shore. There may be some missing calls due to sheriff's logs not being completed at press time and the story will be updated when provided.

11/8

3:03 p.m. - Search and Rescue - Dicks Lake - SEARCH AND RESCUE INITIATED FOR A LOST 30-YEAR-OLD MALE HIKER AT DICKS LAKE IN DESOLATION WILDERNESS.

Potholes in our streets are a popular discussion item in Tahoe. Some potholes are simply holes in the asphalt paving, while others are actually low spots located over a utility pipeline. This summer, several articles have addressed potholes at various lengths. The South Tahoe Public Utility District (District) would like to provide some information concerning the “utility” potholes. There are multiple types of “utility” potholes:

1. Manhole structure on sanitary sewers (stamped STPUD)
2. Manhole structure on storm drain sewers (usually slotted)

There will soon be a new Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City now that the Tahoe Transportation District has secured all of the $33 million needed to complete the State Route 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project and Meeks Bay Trail Project.

The final portion of the Class 1 bike trail network between Meyers and South Lake Tahoe was formally opened Wednesday with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Members of the El Dorado County project team were on hand along with current Area 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel and former Supervisor Norma Santiago. Partner agency staff were also there to celebrate the completion.

Several South Lake Tahoe projects were awarded this week by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) as being the "Best in the Basin" for demonstrating exceptional planning, design, and compatibility with Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities.

The projects that were recognized upgraded highways, built new bike trails, improved water quality, restored environmentally-sensitive areas, remodeled blighted commercial buildings, and created defensible space for better wildfire protection.

The Best in the Basin award winners are:

Ten million dollars of Nevada state highway funds will be spent on pedestrian enhancements in the Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe areas over the next year.

The first $300,000 will be spent on a Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) project that began Tuesday that is relocating a crosswalk and adding safety signs on Highway 28 in the Incline Village.

Motorists traveling along Highway 89 on the west shore this weekend can expect delays during the Lake Tahoe Triathlon.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) said the highway will not close during events but CHP officers will be conducting traffic control at several locations along the courses, including several turnaround spots for the cyclists. Work on Caltrans’ construction projects in the area will be wrapped up by Friday at 10 a.m. and won’t resume until Sunday night.

The Tahoe Transportation District recently appointed Russ Nygaard as transportation capital program manager to oversee the planning, design and execution of the agency's capital projects.

With 26 years engineering experience in transportation and bridge projects, Nygaard will perform project management duties and assist with funding procurement and budget maintenance while ensuring all federal requirements are met and executed on schedule.

When CalTrans unveiled the three new message board signs in South Lake Tahoe before the 4th of July weekend, many were appreciative of the head's up on travel times over Echo Summit.

Two boulders the size of cars fell onto State Route 28 Friday morning after a rockslide in the area near Sand Harbor.

The Nevada Highway Patrol received a call on July 10 at 8:30 a.m. about a rockslide blocking the lanes near Sand Harbor.

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) crews worked to remove the boulders, and by 1:30 p.m. the road was reopened according to Meg Ragonese of NDOT.

“During storms, we want to remind drivers to be extra cautious on mountainous roads,” Ragonese said.

No injuries were reported.

Motorists who have traveled California's highways have noticed signs with travel times posted to them, alerting them with travel times to major destinations.

Just in time for the July 4th holiday weekend, South Lake Tahoe will be getting their own set that will alert drivers the time it will take them for destinations between South Lake Tahoe and Placerville.

The Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) has released the name of the driver who died on Wednesday after she drove her car off the road near Glenbrook, NV.

Heavy rains in February caused part of the rock face at Cave Rock to fall into the lanes of traffic on Highway 50. A temporary fix was completed at that time.

Depending on the weather, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) plans on closing two lanes in order to further evaluate the damage and secure the Cave Rock rock face and slope on U.S. 50, Lake Tahoe following recent rockfall.

The next Tahoe Talks Brown Bag Lunch series is Wednesday, January 21st at 11:30 a.m. at Lake Tahoe Community College in the Aspen Room.

Join Trevor Coolidge, Associate Civil Engineer for the City of South Lake Tahoe for a follow-up to the December webinar “Using Pilot Projects to Implement Protected Bike Lanes.” The presentation will include a discussion with engineers from El Dorado County and Douglas County on the challenges and opportunities related to implementing pilot projects and complete streets in South Shore communities.

Between South Lake Tahoe and Stateline, New Year's Eve celebrations were fairly mild and had nothing out of the norm occurred.

Perhaps it was the cold temperatures or several activities spread out, but crowds on the street weren't as massive as known in the past.

As winter approaches northern Nevada, the Nevada Department of Transportation has completed annual winter preparations to help keep roads clear through the upcoming season.

“Roadway safety and mobility are our top priorities,” NDOT Director Rudy Malfabon explained. “Last winter, NDOT crews dedicated more than 22,000 hours to removing snow and ice from state roads in the Truckee Meadows. We’ll be out there again throughout this winter to clear roads of ice and snow.”

Quick Facts:

As we at the Nevada Department of Transportation and Q&D Construction substantially complete the Kingsbury Grade Pavement Reconstruction Project this week, we want to thank local community members and businesses for their understanding and support.

Originally scheduled to continue through next summer, the project has substantially completed this week; one season ahead of the original schedule. Completing this important project ahead of schedule could not have been accomplished without the understanding of the entire community.

The Carson Valley Airporter, a new bus service between Douglas County and Reno, starts up their four round trips daily on Monday, November 17.

Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) awarded Amador Stage Lines more than $365,000 in federal funds to start the service. The bus line has supplied $143,000 in matching funds according to Michelle Gardner, NDOT transit manager.

The 20th Annual Street Vibrations motorcycle rally is scheduled for September 24-28. The primary events will be located in Reno and Sparks but other events are scheduled in Carson City, Virginia City and Lake Tahoe. Organizers are expecting between 50,000 and 100,000 participants and with the influx of visitors to the area, the number of traffic related issues are expected to increase.

The second segment of the Stateline to Stateline Bikeway was dedicated during a ceremony on Thursday. The 1.2-mile shared-use bike path connects Elks Point with Round hill Pines on the Nevada side.

This new stretch adds to the existing path for a total of 2.2 miles and provides access to Rabe Meadow with Nevada Beach and Round Hill Pines Resort.

There is a park and ride system for Sand Harbor in place once again for the summer of 2014.

In it's third year, the Tahoe Transportation District’s East Shore Express, the shuttle bus provides rides Incline Village to Sand Harbor. They are able to do so with a federal grant and funds gathered from the selling of Lake Tahoe License Plates.

Get your East Shore Express map.

In an effort to keep bicyclists safer on Nevada roads, the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) has joined forces with the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) in a SHARE THE ROAD campaign. They will be stepping up enforcement to ensure that motor vehicles are sharing the roads with the bicyclists and reducing the accidents between the two.

Spring is here which means Nevadans will be taking to the road to get some exercise and soak up some sun, so you will begin to see more people biking along the roads in Nevada.