YOUR AD HERE »

TRPA, El Dorado County seeking comments on bike-friendly Meyers, Highway 50 plans

Sebastian Foltz
sfoltz@tahoedailytribune.com
Bikers cruise along one of the rec paths in Meyers. Tahoe Regional Agency and the El Dorado County officials will be hosting pop-up booth public information sessions this week seeking input on potential ideas for the U.S. Highway 50 corridor in Meyers. Groups are looking at ways to make the region more bike and pedestrian friendly.
Courtesy Mike Vollmer / TRPA |

Pop-up Booth schedule

Friday, April 22

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Century 21 in Meyers

3-4 p.m. Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School

4:15-6:15 p.m. Lira’s Supermarket

Saturday, April 23

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bijou Community Park in South Lake Tahoe

MEYERS, Calif. — While the Meyers area may serve as one of the gateways to Lake Tahoe, for many basin visitors it’s often little more than a thoroughfare — coming at the expense of local businesses. Beyond a mere inconvenience, crossing U.S. Highway 50 can also be a safety hazard for area residents, pedestrians and cyclists.

Each are topics that Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and El Dorado County officials are looking to address through the TRPA’s grant-funded Meyers Corridor Project.

“I think the community has been very clear that they would like that part of Meyers to act as a main street,” TRPA associate transportation planner Morgan Beryl said. “Right now it’s a high-speed throughway.”



Through the group’s On Our Way grant program, TRPA is contributing $61,000 to create conceptual transportation planning strategies for the corridor to make the area more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. The hope is that it may also encourage visitors to stop by local businesses and visit underused parks and recreation sites rather than merely passing through.

“We’d be looking at designs to reduce speeds,” Beryl said of suggested plans. “When you see what’s around you, it encourages you to stop in the area.”



Ideas under consideration include increased pedestrian crossings, better bike lanes and bike crossings, as well as potential median refuge islands to breakup street crossings. Caltrans is also currently assessing ideas for a roundabout at the intersection of U.S. Highway 89 and U.S. Highway 50, south of Meyers. An additional roundabout at the Pioneer Trail intersection may be a future consideration.

Representatives from TRPA, Caltrans and El Dorado County will be on hand this week at a number of strategically located informational “pop-up booths” to present proposed ideas and take public comment.

“We’re trying to get a little more feedback and get specific,” county senior civil engineer Donaldo Palaroan said.

Booths will include some concept drawings based on prior public comments through the Meyers Area Plan — which provides guidelines for future developments in a variety of areas beyond transportation. They will be set up on either Friday, April 22, or Saturday, April 23, at different locations.

Officials will be at the Century 21 Real Estate Office in Meyers from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School from 3-4 p.m. and outside of Lira’s Supermarket from 4:15-6:15 p.m.

On Saturday they will have a booth at the Earth Day celebration at Bijou Community Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The groups are not accepting online comments at this time.

Eventual plans could be further funded trough the state’s Active Transportation Program grants, which encourage and help fund non-motorized alternative transportation projects.

No set timeline has been proposed for any construction or implementation. Ideas would likely be enacted in phases based on short-term and long-term goals.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around the Lake Tahoe Basin and beyond make the Tahoe Tribune's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.