Placer County officials and representatives from community organizations celebrated the grand opening of the Dollar Creek Trail on Tuesday, a 2.2-mile paved trail extending from the existing trail in Tahoe City from Dollar Drive along State Route 28 to Fulton Crescent Drive.

“This truly represents one small step in getting the north shore connected from Tahoe City to Kings Beach with a non-auto separated trail,” said Peter Kratz, assistant director for Placer County Public Works. “We only have another six miles to go.”

The new edition of the 10-foot wide trail extends the lakeside trail system to connect the neighborhoods of Cedar Flats and Highlands into Tahoe City and further to the West Shore and Squaw Valley.

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“Our goal when we build these projects is to not have people even notice the infrastructure,” said Central Federal Lands Highway Division Project Manager Matt Ambroziak. “A lot of thought and alignment went into this trail.”

“What this really took was passion, commitment and persistence,” said Placer County Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery. “It wasn’t simple.”

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According to Lane Lewis, member of the North Tahoe Public Utility District board of directors, the trail was made possible through the work of Larry Sevison, who currently sits on the governing board for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

“Back in the late ’80s Larry had this idea,” said Lewis. “Without his vision and his dedication for almost 30 years this would’ve never happened.”

Sevison’s influence on the trail construction prompted Cindy Gufstason, chief executive officer of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, to suggest naming the section of the trail “Larry Sevison’s Pinecone Passage.”

This portion of the trail is the first addition the county has made to the trail since 2012. Before the addition a trail existed from Dollar Point through Tahoe City, south 10 miles to Sugar Pine Point State Park and from Tahoe City to Squaw Valley Resort. The trail picks back up in Truckee at the Legacy Bike Trail and stops near the Truckee Airport.

The county’s ultimate goal is to provide alternate forms of transportation through the “Resort Triangle” trail system with a trail through Tahoe City, Kings beach and Truckee along Highways 89, 28 and 267.

Hannah Jones is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at hjones@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2652.