Snow and Slides Close Highways in Tahoe Area

State highway officials said slides of unknown size buried Sierra Nevada arteries U.S. 50 and California 89 today under an assault of wind-blasted snow that also forced closure of Interstate 80.

Caltrans officials said they did not know how long U.S. 50 will remain closed. The storm has prevented them from determining the extent of two slides that rumbled across the major east-west artery just west of the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Motorists braving the storm on other mountain roads were required to use tire chains, and in some cases traffic was restricted to one lane with controls, officials said.

State and county workers battling to reopen highways report that “right now you can’t see your hand in front of your face,” said Caltrans spokeswoman Norma Kelly.

Authorities reported that a regional utility truck was mired in a slide that crashed onto California 89 early today along the west shore of Lake Tahoe about two miles north of Tahoe City, Kelly said. The truck apparently was freed and no one was injured, she said.

State highway workers, who are halting motorists on State 89 at Tahoe City and Squaw Valley, hope they can reopen the road within hours after the storm eases.

Caltrans spokeswoman Fran Meyer said the U.S. 50 slides are on Meyers Grade, about five miles west of the city of South Lake Tahoe.

Road crews blocked the highway eastbound at Sly Park, east of Placerville, and at Meyers, just west of South Lake Tahoe.

Meyer said that “even if we didn’t have the slides, I doubt that the road would be open because it’s snowing so hard. People in the area say there is no visibility.”

The first of the slides, combinations of snow, mud and rocks, crashed over the road at about 6 a.m., Meyer said.

“We’re just now getting information on the second one that occurred sometime after that,” she said. The latest slide is situated about a mile east of the first.

Kelly said that “storm conditions are terrible, there’s no visibility at all, so it’s difficult for them to get out and see how bad it is. It’s too early to give any estimate on reopening.”

Crews reported that the first U.S. 50 slide is 10 feet to 15 feet deep on the road.