Lake Tahoe Route 28 closure begins in two weeks

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a regular series breaking down the road resurfacing project starting May 3 on State Route 28. Today's installment tells the stories of many local businesses and residents who will be affected by the $5 million project.

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — On a normal day, Dan Wheeler leaves his driveway, heads up the Sierra foothills and enjoys a quick drive to work, accompanied by a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe.

Wheeler and his wife Beth are co-owners of Incline Jewelry in the Christmas Tree Village in Incline. The couple lives off U.S. Route 50, about halfway to Carson City. On a normal day that means a 20-minute car ride in the morning to Incline.

And, on a normal day, it means an easy 20-minute drive home in time for dinner.

Come May 3, normal becomes abnormal.

“My wife or I, one of has to be here; it’s not like we can just close the store for three weeks,” Dan Wheeler said. “I’ll be making a trip that normally takes 20 minutes that’s now going to take an hour and 45 minutes.”

Wheeler is referring to the upcoming road resurfacing project on State Route 28, the main lifeline from Incline to U.S. 50. It’s set to be shut down completely to motorists for 12 days during a three-week stretch, forcing commuters to go the long way to reach their destinations.

While navigating the detours to make it to work on time is one issue, his other concern — and arguably the worse of the two — Dan said, is his staff.

With one employee hailing from Carson and another from Gardnerville, the thought of them not working for three weeks is a possibility.

“I might lose two employees over this; it’s just not economically feasible to add three hours a day, using the gas to drive,” Wheeler said. “Then it could just impact business, too. I’ve got (customers) from the South Shore that aren’t going to make it up here during that time. It’s tough.”

The project

Wheeler’s worries are shared by many who live or work in Incline Village and are preparing for the $5 million Nevada Department of Transportation project to resurface the road from Incline to the U.S. 50 junction.

The three-week, 12-day closure presents the best-case scenario for everyone, said NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder.

“They just need to get in and get out before summer,” Magruder said. “If we just did traffic control (one-lane work), we’d be there until September or October. Eight weeks is the best, and we understand of course there will be hardships.

According to a 2007 NDOT traffic study, about 7,700 vehicles travel daily from the U.S. 50 junction through Incline Village.

Making arrangements

One of those many vehicles belongs to Zephyr Cove resident Claudia Andersen, executive director of Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation in Incline. For Andersen, like many people in the basin, she has both personal and business commuting concerns.

“The majority of our executive directors (at Parasol) do not live locally and will be affected,” Andersen said. “To combat (the project), some may be taking a vacation, some will be looking for housing locally and some will be working from home and conference calling.”

Of the nine executive directors under Parasol’s umbrella, six, including Andersen, commute to work from one of the impacted areas. Andersen said she will be able to work from home a few days, but, she, like countless others on other days, will have to adjust to taking the long way to work.

For Anderson, that’s the hour-plus drive around the California side of the lake. For others, such as Carson City resident and Project MANA Executive Director George LeBard, one of the six affected executives, it means taking U.S. Route 395 to Reno, then hopping on the Mt. Rose Highway to Incline.

LeBard and wife Irma, who also works for the foundation in the Donald W. Reynolds Community Non-Profit Center, don’t have any other choice, especially with a high school student enrolled at Incline High School.

“We’re very worried about it. With our son in high school, we’re up here every day at quarter to eight in the morning,” LeBard said, adding that his other two sons also work in Incline — at Raley’s and the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe. “I mean, we’ve got a dog at home. We’re going to try and coordinate to see who can be home to take care of the house and the dog. It’s all a big hassle.”

The LeBards are choosing the temporary housing road, finding rooms through friends and other connections. While it’s not the most ideal temporary living situation, George said, it beats massive travel headaches.

“We figured it’s the most logical thing to do; otherwise we’re on the road four hours a day,” George said.

The business approach

Someone else who is avoiding extended travel time is Incline resident Dennis Oliver, chief community liaison with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

With TRPA’s main headquarters on Tahoe’s South Shore, Oliver will take the scenic route around Tahoe’s West Shore on Mondays — then work the Tuesday-Thursday stretch of the three-week closure from his home headquarters in Incline.

“It just doesn’t make sense to spend two and a half hours on the road each day when you can do the work at home,” said Oliver, adding TRPA’s Tahoe City Office, while closed for business, still serves as a satellite office.

From the business side, TRPA shouldn’t be greatly impacted by the closure, Oliver said, as only a half dozen employees, including himself, are affected. One decision already made, Oliver noted, is the May governing board meeting has been moved from The Chateau in Incline Village to the South Shore. This is a travel precaution and because the agenda doesn’t look to include any pressing North Shore business.

Oliver also said he plans to do much public outreach along the North Shore during May 3 to 22, attending public meetings, board meetings and other events to keep TRPA as a presence during the construction.

Other organizations locally and around the lake have had to make larger-scale adjustments. Two of the largest North Shore employers — the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe and Incline Village General Improvement District — have been assessing the project since learning about it last fall.

IVGID has been coordinating travel plans and offering adjusted work schedules for its affected employees, of which there will be more than 40, said Human Resources Director Susan Johnson. The district also is informing employees of various carpooling options and working with the Tahoe Biltmore for room availability.

“We understand this is going to affect a lot of people, and we’re doing our best to be flexible,” Johnson said.

Will water transport work?

At the Hyatt, 30 employees will be impacted, said Hotel Manager Joe Mojica. Service-wise, however, the resort should run smoothly, as staff has worked for months to adjust their schedules.

The Hyatt will also use boat access to Lake Tahoe to ease transportation. The resort normally opens its boat pier around Memorial Day weekend; however, Mojica said the Hyatt is dropping its buoys around the start of the Highway 28 closure, making its pier available for cross-lake transit to South Shore commuters.

So far, though, no one has expressed interest, Mojica said.

The same holds true for the lake’s more visible vessels, said Austin Sass, director of sales and marketing for Aramark, which runs the popular tour boats the Tahoe Queen and MS Dixie.

“No one has approached us and asked if we’re interested in coordinating some sort of boat taxi or lake transportation program,” said Sass.

This isn’t the first time the idea of a boat taxi across Lake Tahoe has surfaced, said Sass, adding that even if interest piques again because of the road project, there are too many hurdles to clear logistically for the idea to work.

“Sure it may be an option, but the biggest thing with trying to do a boat shuttle across the lake is people need a place to park,” Sass said. “You’re going to have 50 to 100 cars that need to park at someone’s dock at either end of the lake.”

One Incline resident thinks, however, that the impending road closure could be the last straw needed to get people talking again about a boat taxi.

Betsy Miller is general manager of KRLT 93.3 FM in South Lake Tahoe. As an Incline resident, she too will be affected by the commute. To avoid traffic headaches, Miller said she plans to rent a room or stay in a cheap hotel for the three-week closure.

“I think it’s going to be a huge inconvenience, not just speaking for myself, but for all of us who do the commute,” Miller said. “I think this might act as a real wake-up call for all of us that there is a critical need for transportation alternatives in Tahoe. This project might be the start to put the wheels in motion to start talking.”

Thunderbird concerns

One of the most iconic Tahoe vessels is the Thunderbird Yacht, housed at the Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society on the East Shore.

The private property lies smack in the middle of the road closure, located almost two miles east of Sand Harbor.

That poses a big problem for preservation manager and curator Bill Watson.

“(The project) is both neglectful and ignorant of our business operations and needs here; it’s as if it’s being done in a vacuum,” Watson said. “We need access to Incline Village. This could have a grave impact on our preparation for the summer season.”

Watson estimates Thunderbird’s staff, many who live on the property, averages 20 to 30 vehicle trips per day to Incline Village. If staff can’t make those trips, it could severely impact the lodge’s preparation for the summer season.

“The road closure will have a detrimental impact on the launching of the Thunderbird yacht for the 2009 season,” Watson said. “All of our boat workers are North Shore residents and commute to the yacht’s winter storage at the Carson City airport via Highway 28.”

Watson has reached out to NDOT to devise a compromise, and Watson said NDOT has agreed to help, but still hasn’t decided how.

A meeting is set up for Tuesday between Watson and NDOT at the IVGID’s offices, Watson said, to discuss access issues. Magruder confirmed that NDOT is working with Watson to devise a solution, agreeing that no answers are yet known.

Coping with the issue

The Thunderbird Lodge, the Hyatt, IVGID — are just a few among many when it comes to local businesses preparing for the project.

And the list goes on. At the four Incline public schools, for example, almost 7 percent of the faculty commute to work on the State Route 28 corridor from Dayton, Minden or Carson City. The North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District will have about 12 employees affected by commuting woes, said assistant chief Greg McKay. At Raley’s in Incline, a “fair amount of colleagues who make the commute from Carson” will be impacted, said store spokeswoman Amy Davis.

Along with the businesses are the hundreds, even thousands of people, making their own arrangements.

Like Brad Johnson, IVGID’s engineering manager. The Meyers, Calif., resident works in Incline, but since he has a friend who lives in Incline and commutes to the South Shore, the duo is room swapping for three weeks.

Or there’s Incline resident Lacy Rezek, a teacher at Zephyr Cove Elementary, who’s resorting to bumming couches during the closure.

“I actually have been offered a few sofas for the days I need to be at Whittell at 7:15 in the morning,” Rezek said.

Magruder said he has received requests from individuals and businesses to have some leniency on the road closure, to maybe allow for an hour block on certain mornings to allow a few pass-throughs.

“We just can’t do that. Say you open a block for an hour at 8 a.m., then someone wants it at noon or 4 p.m. It’s just not something we can do,” said Magruder, adding. “After the three weeks (complete road closure), I very seriously doubt we’ll have to come back and say we need more time.”

For most who will be affected, it appears the only solution is just dealing with it.

“In Tahoe, there’s two times of the year — winter and construction. Those are the two seasons in Tahoe,” said Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Incline Village Substation support specialist Leslie Barnes who has lived in Incline almost her whole life. “You’ve just got to accept it and move on.”

Anyone with questions or concerns about the project can contact Magruder at his office at (775) 888-7777.