Highway 50 Construction

Small towns along three Gold Country and Sierra highways will see traffic like they rarely would otherwise, when drivers from Sacramento and the Bay Area make the detour around Highway 50 construction to get to South Lake Tahoe.

The Caltrans project to repair the rock wall at Echo Summit will force the closure of Highway 50 through the Sierra starting May 11. Construction is expected to last at least two weeks, and the detour route takes drivers along Highways 16, 49 and 88 -- at least a 35 minute longer drive than the direct route through Placerville, Pollock Pines, and Twin Bridges.

A Caltrans TV commercial warns drivers of the detour, but also encourages them to enjoy the scenic drive along the way. For towns on the route, like Jackson, it is a rare opportunity to pull in an especially high volume of traffic and business.

"It's only happened once before, when Highway 50 was closed due to a slide," said Tom Trassare, a jewelry store owner in Jackson. "It brings a lot of extra people up here. It's a huge amount, really, but we spend a lot of money trying to get people to come up to our community, so this is kind of a free ride."

The Jackson Chamber of Commerce sent out an e-mail blast to area businesses, advising them to be ready for a much busier time in the month of May.