MEYERS — Due to delays in receiving key parts to fix an 80-year-old bridge, the proposed road closure over Echo Summit has been pushed back.

The project was slated to begin this month but Caltrans announced Thursday at a standing-room-only community meeting that the new start date is Oct. 18.

The meeting held at the California Conservation Corps was attended by over 100 people.

Steve Nelson, Caltrans District 3 public information officer, told the crowd that the new date is not set in stone and if there are any more delays in receiving custom made girders from a Utah company, they will push the project to fall 2020.

“The biggest issue is the unknown,” Nelson said. “Everyone wants an exact date and there are too many variables to give them one.”

Regardless of the start date, the project will take no more than two weeks, rain, snow or shine.

The closure is part of a $14.1 million bridge replacement project. The new bridge will meet current seismic and safety standards.

Caltrans has worked out an incentive with the private contractor. For every day shaved off the project time, they will receive $100,000 up to $600,000. The reverse is true if they go over the two week deadline.

Residents at the meeting, although understanding of the need for the project, expressed concerns about weather and safety.

Locals will be given a pass that will allow them to take Johnson Pass to bypass the detour.

With the project planned for October, some in attendance said they were worried snow could create dangerous conditions on Johnson Pass.

Nelson assured those in attendance that plows and emergency vehicles will be stationed at each side of Johnson Pass.

People who live or work on either side of the Highway 50 closure will be given a pass to use the detour. They can pick up their pass the week before the closure at the Meyers Maintenance Yard.

Non-locals coming from Placerville will take a 40-mile alternate route from Highway 49 to Highway 88 to Highway 89 back to U.S. 50.

People coming from Sacramento will be forced to take a 90-mile detour. Overhead signs in Placerville and Sacramento will warn drivers of the detour.

Once this project is complete Nelson does not anticipate any other closures.

“The bridge was built in 1939, it’s lasted 80 years,” said Nelson. “There shouldn’t be anymore closures in my lifetime.”

One-way traffic controls are currently in place on weekdays beginning Monday at 3 p.m. and ending at noon on Friday.

For more information and updates on the project visit way2tahoe.com.