Boards approve transportation plan for Tahoe that would cut greenhouse gases

“Mobility 2035,” approved last week — as was the sweeping Lake Tahoe Regional Plan update — will make the area the fourth in the state to meet the greenhouse gas requirements. Lake Tahoe will meet those targets by 2035, TRPA said in a news release.

Mobility 2035, which affects nearly $1.6 billion worth of projects, is meant to give other transportation options instead of driving — including “walkable, vibrant communities” — and cut down on traffic’s effect upon the environment, TRPA said in the release.

“Transportation touches every part of people’s lives,” Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization transportation planning manager Nick Haven said in a statement. “We need a regional system that promotes sustainability, enhances quality of life and offers improved options to getting around.”

Greenhouse gas emissions would fall by 7 percent in 2035 under the plan, which also seeks to group residents and businesses in areas with good transportation service.

“As a vacation destination, the Lake Tahoe region has a unique set of transportation and land use challenges, but we are encouraged to see the variety of transportation strategies included in the Regional Transportation Plan,” Autumn Bernstein, director of the environmental coalition ClimatePlan, wrote in a statement to TRPA and TMPO. “The plan incorporates a number of exciting projects that will help residents and visitors have better transportation choices.”

The Lake Tahoe Regional Plan update approved last week will govern development around the scenic Sierra lake straddling the Nevada-California line and give more control to local governments. While business interests called the new regional plan long overdue, some environmental advocates said it mangles ...

http://www.rgj.com/viewart/20121219/NEWS/312190134/Boards-approve-transportation-plan-Tahoe-would-cut-greenhouse-gases