Main road between Sand Harbor and Spooner to be closed

INCLINE VILLAGE " In one month, the Nevada Department of Transportation is embarking on a $5 million roads project east of Lake Tahoe, on the main pathway that links the lake to the Carson Valley.

The positive? A fresh path for Incline, Carson City, South Lake Tahoe commuters to travel.

The negative? As many as eight weeks of travel headaches this spring and summer to get it done.

NDOT's five-mile resurfacing project on State Route 28, roughly from the east intersection of 28 and Lakeshore Boulevard and the Carson City County line, on the way to the U.S. Highway 50 intersection, is scheduled to take place May 3 through July 2.

According to the plan, a three- to four-mile stretch of Highway 28 " east from Sand Harbor to the U.S. 50-Spooner Summit junction " will be completely shut down to motorists from Monday morning through Thursday night, for three consecutive weeks, between May 3 and May 22.

The path will be open with no delays from 5 a.m. Friday through 7 p.m. Sunday.

The other mile or so of work " west from Sand Harbor to the Lakeshore intersection " will be conducted similar to regular road construction, with traffic control allowing cars east and west via one lane of traffic.

For the latter mile, motorists can expect 20- to 30-minute delays, said NDOT spokesman Scott Magruder. As for the three- to four-mile stretch, motorists will have no choice but to seek an alternate route.

Once this portion of the project is complete on May 22, traffic will be reduced to one lane with a pilot car from Sand Harbor to East Lakeshore Boulevard until July 2. Motorists can expect half-hour delays, Magruder said. There will be no delays to traffic Friday through Sunday.

The goal? To be done before July 4, before the Shakespeare Festival, "before summer tourist activity really begins to take off," Magruder said. Magruder said the contracting company working the job " Granite Construction Co. " will face a $15,000 per-calendar day fine for every day the project is not complete post July 2.

According to a 2007 NDOT traffic study, approximately 7,700 vehicles travel daily through the project area around the projected time period, Magruder said, although the number is slightly smaller for the three- to four-mile area that will be shut down, as the 7,700 deals with the entire strip of road.

The project, which is being funded by taxpayers through the state's fuel taxes, isn't in danger of being cut from NDOT's budget, per the nation's stumbling economy, Magruder said.