Highway 50 at Pioneer Trail closed

The westbound lanes of Highway 50 at Pioneer Trail are scheduled to close tonight so the road can be torn up and a hole for a 4-foot-wide pipe can be redrilled.

The pipe will be part of a large erosion control project that will route stormwater collected from 40 acres south of the highway to a treatment basin on Park Avenue. It will be connected to a ditch along Tahoe Meadows that empties into Lake Tahoe.

Miscalibrated equipment caused a drill to bore the hole in the wrong place, said Stephen Peck, principal engineer for South Lake Tahoe. The contractor, West Coast Boring of Bakersfield, will cover the cost of the redrilling.

The westbound lanes and center turn lane will be shut today from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Traffic will be limited to one lane in each direction on the eastbound side of the Highway 50. The lane closures could remain in effect from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. the following morning through Wednesday, Peck said.

The reinforced concrete pipe to be installed is part of the Rocky Point Erosion Control and Watershed Restoration Project to collect and treat stormwater that runs off several streets near Rocky Point Road.

The four phases of the Rocky Point project, which will eventually involve land between Rocky Point Road and Ski Run Boulevard, are expected to cost about $7 million and be completed over a period of years.