PLACER COUNTY, Calif. – The Lower Sawtooth Trailhead area will undergo construction starting mid-May, providing improvements to access and parking.

The project will result in a paved parking area adjacent to the U.S. Forest Service road (USFS 06) off of Thelin Drive where a dirt parking area currently lies. Parking stalls, an informational kiosk, and roadsigns are planned for the site. In addition to improving user access, the project aims to make improvements to water quality and clarity with drainage implemented for erosion control.

The improvements, along with boulder parking barricades, seek to mitigate parking and traffic concerns in the area.

Placer County expects the project to take about 15 working days with completion around late May to early June. Users will likely have limited access during construction.

Project managers have been aiming to have plans in place and construction started within the narrow window that falls after winter and before summer recreation begins.

“We are cognizant of the fact that we want to get that trailhead open,” Seth Warren, Placer County engineering manager says, “for users as it gets real popular.”

The project is the first piece of the larger North Tahoe Recreation Access Plan, which focuses on improving public recreation access areas in the north Lake Tahoe and Truckee region. Warren says the plan’s goal is to accomplish one site per year over the next several years.

A majority of the funding for this first project is provided through transient occupancy tax channels with the North Tahoe Community Alliance as well as air and water quality mitigation funds from the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.