The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is preparing the final design and permit application for a funded project on a section of U.S. Highway 50 from Trout Creek to Ski Run Boulevard in the City of South Lake Tahoe, California. Although the final design is not yet available for review, the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition (LTBC) understands, based on recent communications Caltrans has had with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and the City of South Lake Tahoe, that the current plans are for the Highway to be widened with five (5) foot shoulders on each side. The project will also include storm water drainage improvements, sidewalks, landscaping and other features.
Although Class II Bicycle Lanes were included in the project from its inception, and has been considered part of the project for many years by community leaders, Caltrans has unilaterally decided to withdraw these Class II Bicycle Lanes from the project. While five foot shoulders are planned, Caltrans proposes not to design or build the shoulders to Class II Bicycle Lane standards nor to officially designate, stripe and mark the shoulders as Bicycle Lanes.
The omission of Class II Bicycle Lanes from the project does not comply with a number of local, state and federal mandates including the following: TRPA/Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Plan and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, Pathway 2007 desired conditions, does not meet the intent of the recently enacted California Complete Streets Act, does not comply with other State and Federal Highway mandates, and does not adequately provide the safety needed for our residents and tourist who are bicycling on the highway. Additionally, history has shown the omission of Class II Bicycle Lanes from a project also means that there is no assurance that a five foot shoulder area would continue to be present in the future when Caltrans does re-striping or other work on the roadway.
The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition believes it is essential that Class II Bicycle Lanes be retained in this project as originally described, to adequately provide for the safety of bicyclists on the only cross-town transportation corridor, to comply with local and state transportation and air quality mandates, and to help assure that the five foot shoulder areas continue to be available and maintained for bicyclists.
The LTBC is asking Caltrans to widen their planned four inch fog line to six inches (two inches more making it the standard Class II Bicycle lane stripe width), place bicycle lane signs on the highway, and bicycle emblem stencils in the lanes.
National guidelines stipulate that bicycle lanes are part of a comprehensive program to improve safety for bicyclists. Thousands of cyclists use Hwy 50 to commute to work, shop, go to school and visit the region's recreational resources.
By having designated Class II Lanes with stripe, signs and emblems, the LTBC believes: it will improve cyclists' safety by increasing motorists' awareness that cyclists are sharing the road - a legal right defined by the California Motor Vehicle Code; encourage more bicycle use and thereby reduce dependence on the automobile and its associated traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and airborne particulate matter clouding the Lake; and, help build community connectivity to existing Class I Bike Paths located at each end of the project area.
For decades, this community and its tens of thousands of annual cycling visitors have consistently and clearly stated the need for bicycle lanes on Hwy 50. It is a naturally intuitive assessment, the collective desire of the community and its tourists, and the transportation department's responsibility to have Class II Bike Lanes on this section of Hwy 50.
The LTBC is calling for Class II Bicycle Lane designation on this Hwy 50 project.
CALL TO ACTION!
The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition urgently requests community, professional and environmental organizations, and businesses to write a Letter of Support for Class II Bicycle Lanes on the Hwy 50 project described above.
Address your letter to:
Will Kempton, Director
California Department of Transportation MS49
Sacramento, CA 94274-0001
Mail the letter to the LTBC at PO Box 1147, Zephyr Cove, NV 89448. We will compile them, make copies, and distribute them to Will Kempton and our region's (local, county and State) political representatives.
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For more specific Hwy 50 Project information, contact:
Charles Emmett, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 775.588.4547, ext. 288
John Greenhut, Director, City of South Lake Tahoe Public Works, 530.542.6035
Additional sources:
National guidelines calling for bike lanes as part of a comprehensive safety program:
Study showing facilites with bike lanes safer than those without:
