U.S. 50 along the east shore of Lake Tahoe is a National Scenic Byway which experiences significant demands from a range of travelers including residents, visitors, recreationalists, commuters and regional traffic that combine for nearly 7 million trips annually. U.S. 50 is also unique in that it is the only interstate highway in the Tahoe Basin while also serving the Basin’s largest hotel base in South Lake Tahoe. The U.S. 50 East Shore Corridor Management Plan (CMP) assessed and evaluated needs along the 13-mile corridor, from Spooner Summit to the California State Line, within the Lake Tahoe Basin. The CMP evaluates a mobility vision, developing supporting goals and identifying improvement strategies for the corridor based on existing regional plans, stakeholder input and assessment of travel and safety data. The study is examining potential multi-modal solutions, including pedestrian, bicycle and local and regional transit services, as well as innovative transportation and mobility strategies to serve the unique seasonal and massive visitor-driven fluctuations in use. As a planning-level study completed in Spring 2024, the CMP informs future project development by NDOT and partner agencies.

Study Goals

The CMP, through the active involvement of study partners, stakeholders, and the public, has established six overarching goals:

• Improve Safety
• Protect Lake Tahoe
• Enhance the Visitor Experience
• Expand Multi-Modal Transportation Choices
• Promote Economic Vitality
• Promote and Enhance Agency Collaboration and Management

Study Partners

NDOT worked closely with interested and affected local, state and federal agencies to ensure collaboration and support long-term implementation. Project Charter partners include:

• Tahoe Regional Planning Agency – Metropolitan Planning Organization (TRPA-MPO) Study Co-lead
• Tahoe Transportation District (TTD)
• United Stated Forest Service - Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (USFS – LTBMU)
• Douglas County
• Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP)
• Nevada State Parks
• Nevada State Lands
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

 Alternatives and Strategies

The CMP evaluated a broad range of strategies and refined these by incorporating public and stakeholder input to arrive at a suite of potential improvements to achieve the study's goals. Alternatives are centered around short-term safety enhancements, intersection improvements, parking management, and adding select turn lanes where feasible. Lane reductions are no longer included as a recommended alternative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Study Documents

The U.S. 50 CMP is comprised of three volumes. Volume 1 is the final report, Volume 2 archives technical background information, and Volume 3 documents public outreach and comments. Links to these documents are provided below. 

U.S. 50 East Shore CMP Final Report 

U.S. 50 CMP Volume 2 (technical background information)

U.S. 50 CMP Volume 3 (public outreach summary) 

 

For questions or comments regarding the U.S. 50 East Shore CMP, please contact Melissa Chandler, NDOT Project Manager, at mchandler@dot.nv.gov or 775-888-7170.

FAQs

How does this study relate to the public meeting NDOT held in 2017?

The 2017 public meeting depicted potential concepts for changing the U.S. 50 roadway configuration. The public response was extensive and NDOT heard you! The U.S. 50 CMP was a fresh start to developing multi-modal solutions for the corridor and started with a “blank canvas.” The U.S. CMP 50 recommendations years of public and stakeholder input coupled with technical analysis and do not include roadway configurations.

When will proposed solutions resulting from the CMP be constructed?

CMP recommendations will be implemented over time with early-action improvements implemented over the next few years as appropriate. Mid and long-term improvements will take more time to be constructed with possible implementation over the next five, ten or twenty years depending on funding availability and other state and agency priorities through the One Nevada Transportation Plan. The One Nevada Transportation Plan is NDOT’s statewide long-range transportation plan which sets forth a performance-based prioritization framework to advance those projects that best support the Plan’s overarching goals.