Placer County seeks feedback on plan to reduce traffic in North Lake Tahoe

Published July 30, 2020

Prioritizing transportation mobility around North Lake Tahoe, Placer County is seeking community feedback on a draft transportation plan for the “Resort Triangle” area, which connects the North Lake Tahoe area of Placer County and Interstate 80. 

The draft plan, currently open for public review and comment, identifies strategies intended to ease mobility throughout the region, reduce transportation impacts on the environment and encourage commute options other than driving such as transit and non-motorized travel choices.

Community members can provide their feedback on four key topics including microtransit, managed parking, encouraging commute options and reducing traffic. Participants can learn about each topic through an informational, animated video and respond to the proposed strategies through a short questionnaire. 

The virtual workshop is available at www.triangle-transportation.com. The community’s input will help to refine the plan recommendations for a presentation to the Board of Supervisors later this summer.

The resort area of eastern Placer County frequently experiences traffic congestion during peak visitor seasons, which can overwhelm the transportation corridors that connect commercial town centers and recreational areas. Improving the transportation system to be able to serve the influx of residents and visitors throughout the year is critical for preserving the environment and quality of life of the North Tahoe community. 

The Resort Triangle Transportation Plan is intended to help the community go beyond dependency on personal vehicles through strategically investing in improvements that enable reliable and efficient alternative travel options. To fulfill these goals the plan identifies strategies to:  

  • Improve transit operations on the state Route 89 and 267 corridors by providing a transit-only lane. 
  • Enhance operations of state Route 267 by providing a climbing lane specifically for trucks and transit vehicles. 
  • Encourage people to take transit, carpool, walk and bike by implementing a paid parking program in the commercial town centers and recreational destinations. 
  • Incentivize people to leave their car behind by implementing an on-demand micro transit program. 
  • Enable more walking, biking and transit use through funding improvements for those travel options in the area with revenue from the paid parking program 
  • Equip employers with resources and support to provide their employees commute options. 
  • Reduce dependency on personal vehicles through alternate commute options.

The plan also seeks to develop a unified vision and policy framework for transportation in the Placer County Resort Triangle area. Placer County is partnered with agencies throughout the region on the Resort Triangle Transportation Plan. Partners include:

  • Placer County Transportation Planning Agency
  • Tahoe Transportation Division
  • Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
  • Town of Truckee
  • Nevada County Transportation Commission
  • Truckee North Tahoe Transportation Management Association
  • Tahoe Truckee Area Regional Transportation
  • Caltrans
  • California Highway Patrol
  • North Lake Tahoe Resort Association
  • Special districts

 Learn more at www.triangle-transportation.com.