Author: Tara Frank
New Truckee River Bridge and SR 89 Completed and Open to the Public
In October 2019, TTD announced the completion of the new Truckee River Bridge and State Route 89 realignment, a long-awaited infrastructure enhancement for Tahoe City residents, along with the millions of visitors who frequent the region annually.
along SR 89 leading into Tahoe City from Truckee.
Photo Credit: Federal Highway Administration
TTD is the local lead agency for the SR 89/Fanny Bridge Community Revitalization Project. In early 2011, TTD began an extensive public outreach campaign to engage and inform the community about the project. The outreach campaign focused on working collaboratively with Tahoe City residents, local agencies and organizations, along with business and property owners to receive public input to help create a final project design. In 2015, environmental documents were certified and a preferred alternative was selected.
The project has several goals and TTD is pleased to note that the completion of the first phase fulfilled a significant and long-awaited for safety goal to construct a second emergency egress and ingress option to and from the west shore of Lake Tahoe. In addition, since the opening of the new Truckee River Bridge and realignment, traffic has flowed better than in past years.
Construction project management was led by Federal Highway Administration, Office of Federal Lands, Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD). The portion of the project they completed included the construction of a new quarter mile segment of State Route 89 with a new 153-foot bridge crossing the Truckee River and roundabouts on the south end of the realignment next to the Tahoe City Transit Center and the north end near the Caltrans Maintenance Station. Multi-modal improvements, such as new paved shared-use paths and bike lanes, were incorporated to enhance connectivity and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Seventy-eight percent of the project is funded by the Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP), with the remaining twenty-two percent provided by local matching funds from Placer County and the Tahoe City Public Utility District.
The Project Delivery Team is comprised of representatives from the Tahoe Transportation District, CFLHD, Placer County, Caltrans, United States Forest Service, the Tahoe City Public Utility District, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.