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Tahoe Transportation District outlines plans for future

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Future plans for the Nevada 28 corridor around Lake Tahoe were discussed Tuesday by the Tahoe Transportation District, which intends to build a transit hub on the former Incline Elementary School property.

During the Washoe County Commission meeting, TTD district manager Carl Hasty discussed concepts that include a series of mobility hubs in communities around Lake Tahoe, including Spooner Summit, and eventually in areas outside the Tahoe Basin. The mobility hub concept is intended to provide access to transit and other modes of travel, including walking and biking, as well as vehicles.

In September, the Washoe County School District approved the $2.3 million sale of the old 6.4-acre Incline Elementary School property, 771 Southwood Blvd., to the TTD. It intends to use Federal Transit Administration grant funds to assist with the purchase.

The school was built in 1965 and TTD has plans to demolish the building because it contains asbestos, Hasty said.

“Everything about this building is in need of going away,” Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler said.

A new elementary school was built in 2003 at 915 Northwood Blvd., which is less than a mile away from the old site.

Berkbigler said she’s heard from some Incline Village residents who don’t want a transportation hub at the Southwood Boulevard site. She noted problems with ingress and egress from there onto Nevada 28 and said an environmental assessment — which is about a 2-year process — has yet to be done.

“There’s so much traffic there that turning left onto that side street to get out onto the highway is pretty difficult, and turning right in the wintertime can be pretty dangerous because it goes downhill and curves and it’s icy up there,” Berkbigler said.

Hasty acknowledged safety concerns and the apartment complex across the street but said this is the type of location is suitable for a transit facility.

“That proximity, while it does have safety considerations that must be taken care of in design, it is also a comparable use with transit to alleviate the number of vehicles that are on the road,” Hasty said.

TTD has been using the old Incline Elementary site since 2012 as a seasonal transport point to shuttle people to Sand Harbor – Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park.

Carla O'Day
Carla O'Day
Carla has an undergraduate degree in journalism and more than 10 years experience as a daily newspaper reporter. She grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., moved to the Reno area in 2002 and wrote for the Reno Gazette-Journal for 8 years, covering a variety of topics. Prior to that, she covered local government in Fort Pierce, Fla.

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