NDOT preparing safety projects on U.S. 50 at South Lake Tahoe

The Nevada Department of Transportation is working with Tahoe residents to develop major safety improvements to the stretch of highway between Spooner Summit and Stateline/South Lake Tahoe.

NDOT’s Natalie Caffaratti told the NDOT board Monday the 12.5-mile stretch of U.S. 50 from State Route 28 at Spooner Summit to Stateline has suffered 647 vehicle accidents in just the past five years. She said that includes 235 injury accidents and 10 fatalities.

Caffaratti told the board her team has been meeting with area residents to get their input on what should be done to make that highway safer. Residents especially expressed concern with the intersection at Warrior Way, which has not only a fire station but an elementary school and a high school.

She said they’re considering a variety of changes including turn lanes at key intersections, roundabouts and realigning lanes. But they also want to make room for bike lanes along the route.

She said residents were especially concerned that NDOT not make congestion worse by reducing lanes. They also asked if possible, bike lanes be moved off the roadway for safety and suggested removing on-street parking along the route.

Where State Route 28 meets U.S. 50 just past Spooner Summit, she said they have considerable room to work with and may install a large roundabout to move vehicles.

Through the rest of the corridor, however, Caffaratti said “the challenge with this corridor is right of way.”

“It’s a pretty narrow corridor to work with,” she said.

She said the first public session on what to do was held in May but another is planned in the spring. But she told the board they probably won’t be ready to actually begin construction until the summer 2019.