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Thanks to the efforts of several determined folks, North Tahoe's streets were a little safer for pedestrians for a short period of time this summer.
Visitors and residents of North Lake Tahoe may have noticed a few pedestrian safety devices in Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista Carnelian Bay and Tahoe City last month. This was part of a pedestrian safety demonstration program that was implemented between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15 along Highway 28. These “Yield to Pedestrian” crosswalk devices, used in many other communities, are designed to make drivers more aware they are approaching a crosswalk, offering a safer street-crossing experience for North Lake Tahoe residents and visitors.
This project has been in the works for a while and took collaboration (and patience) from many local organizations. The North Tahoe Business Association (NTBA) sought grant funds for the program from the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association Infrastructure and Transportation committees in May, following the successful installation of three speed radar signs in Kings Beach.
With committee, NLTRA Board, and Placer County Board of Supervisors approval, $27,000 was granted for the purchase of 30 crosswalk devices and an additional four speed radar signs, expanding the traffic calming and pedestrian safety program throughout the North Lake Tahoe area.
After much work and research by the NTBA and Placer County Department of Public Works, Caltrans granted an encroachment permit allowing for the smaller demonstration project mentioned above for the crosswalk devices.
The NTBA worked with the Placer County Department of Public Works to submit the grant for funding of the project, the North Tahoe Public Utility District stepped up to accept delivery and store the signs, the NTBA and the Tahoe City Downtown Association agreed to monitor the project and accept responsibility for the maintenance of the devices. It was collaboration at its best.
All of us involved in this project hope for full initialization of these devices on 11 pedestrian crosswalks along Highway 28 in spring of 2010. We hope the smaller demonstration project showed our partners at Caltrans how beneficial this program can be to the safety of all pedestrians in North Lake Tahoe.
Additional speed radar signs will be ordered and installed as the next phase of the project. The signs installed in Kings Beach have had a large impact on speeding through the community. Other locations will include Tahoe Vista, Carnelian Bay, Tahoe City and Sequoia Drive on the West Shore.
Please let us know what you think about the program and the “Yield to Pedestrian” devices. We will collect all comments and include them in our encroachment permit application to Caltrans next year. Letters can be sent to the North Tahoe Business Association, P.O. Box 1023, Kings Beach, CA 96143.
Many thanks to all who hung in there and helped make this project happen, with special thanks to Dan LaPlante of Placer County Public Works for his invaluable assistance.
Cheri Sprenger is the executive director of the North Tahoe Business Association.
Visitors and residents of North Lake Tahoe may have noticed a few pedestrian safety devices in Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista Carnelian Bay and Tahoe City last month. This was part of a pedestrian safety demonstration program that was implemented between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15 along Highway 28. These “Yield to Pedestrian” crosswalk devices, used in many other communities, are designed to make drivers more aware they are approaching a crosswalk, offering a safer street-crossing experience for North Lake Tahoe residents and visitors.
This project has been in the works for a while and took collaboration (and patience) from many local organizations. The North Tahoe Business Association (NTBA) sought grant funds for the program from the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association Infrastructure and Transportation committees in May, following the successful installation of three speed radar signs in Kings Beach.
With committee, NLTRA Board, and Placer County Board of Supervisors approval, $27,000 was granted for the purchase of 30 crosswalk devices and an additional four speed radar signs, expanding the traffic calming and pedestrian safety program throughout the North Lake Tahoe area.
After much work and research by the NTBA and Placer County Department of Public Works, Caltrans granted an encroachment permit allowing for the smaller demonstration project mentioned above for the crosswalk devices.
The NTBA worked with the Placer County Department of Public Works to submit the grant for funding of the project, the North Tahoe Public Utility District stepped up to accept delivery and store the signs, the NTBA and the Tahoe City Downtown Association agreed to monitor the project and accept responsibility for the maintenance of the devices. It was collaboration at its best.
All of us involved in this project hope for full initialization of these devices on 11 pedestrian crosswalks along Highway 28 in spring of 2010. We hope the smaller demonstration project showed our partners at Caltrans how beneficial this program can be to the safety of all pedestrians in North Lake Tahoe.
Additional speed radar signs will be ordered and installed as the next phase of the project. The signs installed in Kings Beach have had a large impact on speeding through the community. Other locations will include Tahoe Vista, Carnelian Bay, Tahoe City and Sequoia Drive on the West Shore.
Please let us know what you think about the program and the “Yield to Pedestrian” devices. We will collect all comments and include them in our encroachment permit application to Caltrans next year. Letters can be sent to the North Tahoe Business Association, P.O. Box 1023, Kings Beach, CA 96143.
Many thanks to all who hung in there and helped make this project happen, with special thanks to Dan LaPlante of Placer County Public Works for his invaluable assistance.
Cheri Sprenger is the executive director of the North Tahoe Business Association.
