Highway 50 between Carson City and Lake Tahoe now open; Highway 50 west of South Tahoe also opens
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 02/14/2017 - 8:16pm
UPDATE 12:40AM: Road crews from California and Nevada announced late Tuesday that both sections of Highway 50 are open after rock and mud slides closed parts of the highway down last week. The latest is Highway 50 west of South Lake Tahoe which is now open, according to CalTrans. The road reopened at 10:32 p.m. Tuesday night, where it had been closed from Pollock Pines to Strawberry due to multiple mudslides.
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Highway 50 connecting Carson City to Stateline and south shore Lake Tahoe has reopened as of Tuesday night. The Nevada Department of Transportation announced the highway has open lanes in each direction north of the Cave Rock tunnel.
Traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction, with both directions of traffic shifted to westbound lanes away from the rock fall area. Travel speeds are reduced to 35 miles per hour.
Throughout last week, boulders larger than passenger vehicles fell from a roadside slope near Logan Creek Drive onto eastbound travel lanes. No vehicles were involved in the slides, and there were no injuries.
To further enhance traffic safety, NDOT placed two rows of concrete barrier rail on the closed eastbound side of the roadway to help reduce chances of additional boulders sliding into traffic. Gravel has been placed behind the barrier rail to further diffuse and help prevent rock fall onto travel lanes.
NDOT has dedicated approximately $15 million to enhancing traffic safety by stabilizing roadside slopes to reduce rockslide and other erosion along the highway. The majority of U.S. 50 roadside slopes in the Glenbrook area have already been stabilized with rock fall netting or reinforced roadside slopes or have barrier rail/wall built at the bottom to contain and collect erosion-related rock fall, according to NDOT.
Last year, NDOT also extended the westbound, lakeside Cave Rock tunnel entrance. The new approximately 60-foot long and 27-foot tall structure extends the previous tunnel to enhance safety by catching rock fall before it reaches the roadway.
Highway 50 west from South Lake Tahoe is now open, according to CalTrans. The road reopened at 10:32 pm Tuesday night, where it had been closed from Pollock Pines to Strawberry due to multiple mudslides.
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