Illegal parking, unsafe behaviors, and trash are issues on Lake Tahoe highways
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Sat, 12/30/2023 - 12:10pm
What has become an annual situation since COVID, continues to be a dangerous issue on US50 and SR89 at Lake Tahoe. It has nothing to do with masks or social distancing but has everything to do with parking. Many people heading to Tahoe to find some sort of snow to play in have forgotten how to be safe and park safely along the roadways.
In just a few days over the Christmas holiday weekend, 111 parking tickets were issued by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) on US50 at Echo Summit and SR89 at Emerald Bay.
Drivers have started parking illegally on the roads at these two hot spots. Cars are parked over the solid white fog line or are parking or stopping in well-marked "No Parking or Stopping at Any Time" areas.
Cars are also being illegally parked in the Caltrans Maintenance yard at the top of the summit. The area is marked as "no parking," and some person(s) even were so bold as to move the cones CHP placed out to block the area from parking.
They may think since everyone else is doing it, parking must be okay, who knows?
And it's not just parking issues that are concerning to law enforcement, it's also personal behaviors.
CHP said one man was standing on the double yellow line on US50 at Echo Summit (yes, a highway with a speed limit of 55 mph) with two daughters, trying to cross from his vehicle to snow. Another woman was noted as walking on the same stretch of roadway with a child on the wrong side of the fog line. Kids have been seen sledding onto the highway as well.
On Wednesday, someone was even barbecuing on the pavement of the highway.
From Friday to Tuesday this past Christmas weekend, 83 tickets were issued for parking infractions on Echo Summit and 28 at Emerald Bay.
This issue was at the forefront in 2020 when South Tahoe Now carried the same type of story (see here). CHP had several areas with numerous parking issues at that time but without snow at lake level, the areas are limited this year, so far.
It isn't just parking and safety issues that CHP is having to deal with, it's also trash, according to CHP Officer Ruth Loehr. She said there have been a lot of broken plastic sled pieces left on the snow, along with lots of tags from newly purchased gloves and hats, and food bags.
In a previous year, Loehr said she even found five large Amazon boxes with the shipping tags ripped off so the user left them behind intentionally.
Not only is trash unsightly, and in the case of diapers, unsanitary, it also provides a hazard to wildlife.
Loehr says she's seen people be deliberate with their parking and trash behaviors right in front of officers. The parking tickets now range from $40 to $100 after a move by El Dorado County Supervisors to raise the fine.
What will it take for humans to be better?
