At the Lake: Transportation plan nears finalization

After more than a month's worth of public comment, the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization will finalize a document that will guide long-range transportation decisions.

The organization will hear a presentation on the Mobility 2030: Lake Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan, incorporated with the public comments that the document drew from July 8 through Aug. 19.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Friday at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency offices, 128 Market St., Stateline.

The TRPA is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization for the area and will meet as the TMPO.

One item in Mobility 2030 that drew feedback was a proposed South Shore parking fee, which garnered heat from the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce. The proposed fee was briefly mentioned on pages 27 and 55 in the 72-page document.

The TMPO will hear this feedback, along with other comments at the meeting. The draft plan still can be viewed at www.trpa.org under the Transportation Planning section.

Even though the public comment period has closed, this won't be the last time the plan is reviewed by the public, said TRPA spokeswoman Julie Regan.

The regional transportation plan is required to be updated every four years because of federal requirements. Regan said the plan will be incorporated into the Tahoe Basin Regional Plan, which will be examined next year.

"The main point of the document is to acknowledge regional revenue is necessary to fund transportation," Regan said.

In other transportation news:

STATA gets new member; BlueGO gets another route

The South Tahoe Area Transit Authority has a new member: The Ridge Resorts.

With the new addition, BlueGO now will operate the Kingsbury Timeshare route between The Ridge Resorts and the Stateline Transit Center. It will stop at all five Stateline casinos, the Kingsbury Transit Center and along Highway 207 and Tramway Drive.

The new route started Aug. 14 and will add transit service to the upper Kingsbury area.

STATA oversees BlueGO operations and is made up of all the stakeholders that fund the transit service.

Dan Garrison, general manager for The Ridge Tahoe, will represent The Ridge Resorts on STATA's board of directors now that The Ridge is contributing to BlueGO's service.

The Tahoe-Douglas Transportation District will consider a request today to help fund this service, too.

The Ridge had offered a service for its guests and employees, so now they can ride the new service for free by showing their valid identification, key card or owner's card. For other riders, the same BlueGO fares apply.

Along with adding another route to BlueGO, the timeshare route will be timed with the Kingsbury Express so that riders can transfer at the corner of Highway 207 and Tramway Drive.