Tahoe Road Info for SR88 (kirkwood), US50 (South Lake Tahoe), and I80 (North Lake Tahoe)

or making caltrans road reports more livable

See this link for more details of the problems with Caltrans Communication.

Purpose

This page helps with the following things:

Get real time reports of roads changes for hwy 88 (kirkwood), hwy 50 (south lake tahoe), and hwy 80 (north lake tahoe), as well as hwy 89 (around lake tahoe).
Google maps showing the caltrans reporting points for road reports to and around Tahoe (most of those reports are pretty useless if you don't know where "Peddler Hill" or "Nayak" (really Nyak) are located).
History of changes to those roads (since caltrans won't provide that). Did you ever wonder if Carson Spur closed last night and for how long?

Latest sr88, sr89, us50, and i80 STATUS

2012:02:20 12:46 Status for sr88 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr88:
[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & SIERRA NEVADA] NO TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS ARE REPORTED FOR THIS AREA.

2012:02:20 18:19 Status for us50 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/us50:
[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA] MOTORISTS ARE SUBJECT TO LANE REDUCTIONS IN EACH DIRECTION FROM WATT AVE /IN SACRAMENTO/ TO SUNRISE BLVD /IN RANCHO CORDOVA/ (SACRAMENTO CO) FROM 2100 HRS EACH NIGHT TO 0500 HRS EACH MORNING 7 DAYS A WEEK THRU 8/31/13 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION
MOTORISTS ARE SUBJECT TO LANE REDUCTIONS IN EACH DIRECTION FROM 1 MI WEST OF PLACERVILLE /AT MISSOURI FLAT RD/ TO PLACERVILLE (EL DORADO CO) FROM 2000 HRS EACH NIGHT TO 0600 HRS EACH MORNING 7 DAYS A WEEK THRU 8/31/12 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION

2012:02:18 20:19 Status for i80 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/i80:
[IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA - SOLANO CO] IS CLOSED TO WESTBOUND TRAFFIC AT THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE /IN SAN FRANCISCO/ (SAN FRANCISCO,ALAMEDA CO) 24 HRS A DAY FROM 2000 HRS ON 2/17/12 TO 0500 HRS ON 2/21/12 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE [IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & THE SIERRA NEVADA] THE EASTBOUND CONNECTOR TO SOUTHBOUND I 5 /IN SACRAMENTO/ (SACRAMENTO CO) IS CLOSED FROM 2200 HRS ON 2/21/12 TO 0500 HRS ON 2/22/12 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION - A DETOUR IS AVAILABLE
MOTORISTS ARE SUBJECT TO LANE REDUCTIONS IN EACH DIRECTION FROM THE YOLO/SACRAMENTO CO LINE TO LONGVIEW RD /IN SACRAMENTO/ (SACRAMENTO CO) FROM 2200 HRS EACH NIGHT TO 0600 HRS EACH MORNING MONDAY THRU THURSDAY & FROM 2300 HRS THURSDAY TO 0800 HRS FRIDAY THRU 8/31/13 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION
MOTORISTS ARE SUBJECT TO LANE REDUCTIONS IN EACH DIRECTION FROM ATLANTIC ST /IN ROSEVILLE/ TO ROCKLIN RD /IN ROCKLIN/ (PLACER CO) FROM 2200 HRS EACH NIGHT TO 0800 HRS EACH MORNING 7 DAYS A WEEK THRU 8/31/13 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION

2012:02:17 17:30 Status for sr89 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr89:
[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AREA & SIERRA NEVADA] IS CLOSED FROM THE JCT OF US 395 (MONO CO) TO THE JCT OF SR 4 /MONITOR PASS/ (ALPINE CO) - FOR THE WINTER - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE
[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA & SIERRA NEVADA] IS CLOSED FROM THE LASSEN VOLCANIC NAT'L PARK SOUTH BDRY TO THE JCT OF SR 44 /LASSEN LOOP/ (TEHAMA, SHASTA CO) - FOR THE WINTER - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

Latest sr88, sr89, us50, and i80 UPDATE

2012:02:20 12:46 change for sr88 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr88:
-[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & SIERRA NEVADA] CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM SILVER LAKE TO 3.5 MI EAST OF SILVER LAKE (AMADOR CO)

2012:02:20 18:19 change for us50 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/us50:
-IS REOPENED AT KYBURZ (EL DORADO CO) AT 1814 HRS ON 2/20/12

2012:02:18 20:19 change for i80 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/i80:
-[IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA - SOLANO CO] IS CLOSED TO WESTBOUND TRAFFIC AT THE SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE /IN SAN FRANCISCO/ (SAN FRANCISCO,ALAMEDA CO) 24 HRS A DAY FROM 2000 HRS ON 2/17/12 TO 0500 HRS ON 2/21/12 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE [IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA & THE SIERRA NEVADA] MOTORISTS ARE SUBJECT TO LANE REDUCTIONS IN EACH DIRECTION FROM THE YOLO/SACRAMENTO CO LINE TO LONGVIEW RD /IN SACRAMENTO/ (SACRAMENTO CO) FROM 2200 HRS EACH NIGHT TO 0600 HRS EACH MORNING MONDAY THRU THURSDAY & FROM 2300 HRS THURSDAY TO 0800 HRS FRIDAY THRU 8/31/13 - DUE TO CONSTRUCTION

2012:02:17 17:30 change for sr89 from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr89:
-CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM MARKLEEVILLE TO WOODFORDS (ALPINE CO)

Get real time sr88, sr89, us50, and i80 changes via Email

You can subscribe to one or more of those lists (or the last one for all):

http://lists.merlins.org/lists/listinfo/tahoeroads for SR88, US50, and I80 combined (not SR89). List archive here.
http://lists.merlins.org/lists/listinfo/sr88 for real time reports from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr88. List archive here.
http://lists.merlins.org/lists/listinfo/us50 for real time reports from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/us50. List archive here.
http://lists.merlins.org/lists/listinfo/i80 for real time reports from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/i80. List archive here.
http://lists.merlins.org/lists/listinfo/sr89 for real time reports from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr89. List archive here.

This is an Email example (notice the - and + to show the state change):

Update in http://marc.merlins.org/snow/roadinfo/sr88/ : 2010:12:05 03:55
Change since last update:
-[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & SIERRA NEVADA] CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM 3.5 MI EAST OF SILVER LAKE (AMADOR CO) TO PICKETTS JCT (ALPINE CO)
-CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES ARE REQUIRED FROM PICKETTS JCT TO 1 MI WEST OF WOODFORDS (ALPINE CO)
+[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & SIERRA NEVADA] CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM 6.5 MI EAST OF PEDDLER HILL TO KIRKWOOD (AMADOR CO)
+CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES ARE REQUIRED FROM KIRKWIOD TO 1 MI WEST OF WOODFORDS (ALPINE CO)

New state from http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr88
[IN THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA & SIERRA NEVADA] CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS FROM 6.5 MI EAST OF PEDDLER HILL TO KIRKWOOD (AMADOR CO) CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES ARE REQUIRED FROM KIRKWIOD TO 1 MI WEST OF WOODFORDS (ALPINE CO)
Main page with google maps of Caltrans reporting points:
http://marc.merlins.org/snow/tahoe_caltrans.shtml

Google Maps

If that helps, here is a link to the maps to see it fullscreen.

Change history

It's not fancy, but I'm providing it in text form for you to download/parse if you wish: Tahoe Road Info History

Other sources of data

Magnifeye is a nice site if you're mainly interested in hwy 80 and hwy 50 (pretty useless for hwy 88/kirkwood).

Weather Underground Nexrad

Weather underground makes a pretty kick ass nexrad map for real time conditions:

As an example, this is what it looks like on a 'good' day :)

Graphical Map from Nevada DOT

Nevada DOT has a nice graphical map that Caltrans could learn from. They do include the CA side of the roads you care about (click on the map to get an interactive one where you can mouse over portions of roads for more details):

FAQ

Can you support more roads/how do I run this myself?
I'm not really planning on adding more roads, but you're welcome to use my code to do your own: roadinfo script.

Email
Link to Home Page