The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit project to expand parking at Chimney Beach on the East Shore is underway, as Tahoe Guide first reported in August. The project will expand the existing 21-space parking area to 130 spaces while partner agencies remove an equivalent amount of roadside and shoulder parking in the area, which will improve roadway safety, emergency response, recreation access, improve scenic quality in the National Scenic Byway, and reduce soil damage and erosion, according to a press release.
Construction is expected to last through October with some construction activities to be completed early next summer. Although the parking lot will be closed, trails will remain open during construction.
The project is part of both the Forest Service’s SR-28 Shared Use Path, Parking, Safety, and Environmental Improvements Project and the Nevada State Route 28 Corridor Management Plan. The larger vision for the corridor includes additional parking management and technology, continuation of the East Shore Trail to Spooner Summit, more frequent transit and additional transit stops, and construction of a mobility hub at Spooner Summit, according to the release.
Additional improvements will include restrooms, transit pullouts, a pedestrian crossing and infrastructure to support a future parking management system. | fs.usda.gov/ltbmu
