King's Beach

Lake Tahoe, California

Reducing environmental impacts by redesigning a major roadway

King’s Beach is one of the primary commercial, residential and recreational centers of Lake Tahoe. With traffic movement as its primary goal, State Route 28 separated Kings Beach’s residents, visitors, and commercial center from Lake Tahoe. Businesses were declining, the town looked unattractive, and the lack of sidewalks and bike lanes forced people to walk along the road shoulder or in the travel lane. After over 10 years of project controversy, Design Workshop was hired to develop a plan to revitalize the area. Through vigorous public engagement, they built community support for reducing the road from four to three lanes to provide safe and attractive places for people to bike, walk, shop, and socialize. They conducted over 100 meetings with individual business and property owners to ask for their input, provide information, and gain project support. Public meetings, neighborhood meetings, and “street” meetings engaged residents and gained feedback for both the road design and the how improvements should look. The project is one of the largest water quality and urban design projects ever completed at Lake Tahoe. Improvements helped increase lake clarity and have transformed the aging lakefront community from a highway-dominated place to a premiere, people-focused destination.

Services Provided: Landscape Architecture, Urban Design, Public Outreach, Construction Documentation, Graphic Communication

Client

Placer County