NDOT Board to discuss Sand Harbor path project

The Nevada Department of Transportation meets Monday to discuss the proposed multi-use path connecting Incline Village to Sand Harbor State Park.

NDOT and local officials have long considered the route to be dangerous with visitors to the park and nearby Hidden Beach walking along State Route 28 from parking spaces that line the roadway.

A spokesman said it will take two- to three-years to complete the three-mile path from the south end of Include Village to the park. The project will include an underpass to bring the path from the east to west side of the highway near the Flume Trail. In addition, two new parking areas will be built near Ponderosa Ranch and the Tunnel Creek Café to accommodate the nearly one million people who visit the area each year.

To further enhance pedestrian safety, roadside turnouts will be added and water quality improvements will improve roadside drainage to improve the quality of storm water that reaches Lake Tahoe.

A spokesman said in addition to the numerous vehicles using the highway, there are as many as 2,000 pedestrians and bicyclists on that stretch of roadway, creating safety concerns. There were 107 crashes on the road between 2006 and 2013.

NDOT officials say the project is the first step in creating an eventual shared use path from the state line at the north end of the lake to Stateline at south Lake Tahoe.