Assembly BillPassed first houseStreets and Highways
AB 2679: State highways: public parking: traffic control.
What AB 2679 does, verified August 15, 2026
<p>The bill amends California's road maintenance and rehabilitation program by allowing cities to request additional funds from the State Highway Account. This supplementary apportionment can be granted if a city's allocation from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) is $200,000 or less for the fiscal year, the cost of proposed projects exceeds this amount, and the city agrees to repay the loan with future RMRA allocations. The Controller must ensure that sufficient reserves are available in the State Highway Account before approving such requests.</p>
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
4Second ChamberCurrent
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: In committee: Held under submission. (2026-08-13)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions24 total · showing 5
| Aug. 13, 2026 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| Aug. 03, 2026 | In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Jul. 09, 2026 | Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jul. 09, 2026 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 1). |
| Jun. 30, 2026 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on N.R. & W. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W. |
Latest bill textAmended version, July 9, 2026 · 1,274 words
| Amended IN Senate July 09, 2026 |
| Amended IN Senate June 10, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly May 18, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 13, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2679
| Introduced by Assembly Member Hadwick |
February 20, 2026 |
An act to add Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 898) to Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways, and making an appropriation therefor. highways.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2679, as amended, Hadwick. State highways: public parking: traffic control.
Existing law establishes the Department of Transportation and vests the department with full possession and control of all state highways and all property and rights in property acquired for state highway purposes. Existing law establishes the Tahoe Transportation District as a special purpose district managed by representatives from the States of California and Nevada to, among other things, operate a public transportation system in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
This bill would authorize the department, within the Tahoe corridor, to contract with a state agency, a local government, or the district relating to safety, access, and parking in the corridor to (1) designate the portions of state highways that constitute the corridor, (2) prevent unsafe parking and pedestrian movement, movement in the corridor, as provided, and (3) enhance public access to the corridor and public recreation sites, by, among other things, developing public parking, establishing and collecting fees for public parking, and developing transit facilities and pedestrian pathways to connect public parking to recreation sites, as specified.
This bill would require all moneys collected from a fee for that public parking to be deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Fund, which the bill would establish, and would continuously appropriate moneys in the fund to would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to use those moneys for purposes of improving transportation facilities on state highways in the Tahoe Basin, as specified, thereby making an appropriation. specified. The bill would require all penalty moneys collected through citations issued for failing to pay parking fees to be deposited into the Tahoe Safe Recreation Access Penalty Account, which the bill would establish, and would continuously appropriate moneys in the account to would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to use those moneys for enforcement of parking restrictions and prohibitions on state highways in the Tahoe Basin, thereby making an appropriation. Basin.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Lake Tahoe Basin.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) Lake Tahoe is a national and international resource of unique ecological, recreational, and economic importance. Tahoe’s natural beauty supports a regional economy exceeding $5,000,000,000 annually and provides outdoor recreation for millions of Californians and visitors each year.
(b) Existing law sets forth the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact, an interstate agreement between the States of California and Nevada pursuant to which the bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency regulates land use and transportation within the Lake Tahoe Basin to achieve environmental goals.
(c) Growing visitation and limited roadway capacity have increased safety risks and environmental impacts along state highways in the Lake Tahoe Basin. High-use recreation corridors experience hazardous parking behavior, pedestrian conflicts, and congestion that undermine public safety and environmental protection.
(d) A 2025 safety review documented severe and persistent roadway hazards in the Emerald Bay corridor, including 759 wrong-way drivers recorded over a 40-day period, more than 20,500 pedestrians crossing State Route 89 in locations with no crosswalks or pedestrian facilities, and conditions characterized by illegal shoulder parking, rockfall hazards, no bicycle or pedestrian facilities, and people walking in active travel lanes.
(e) In 2025, the State of Nevada enacted Senate Bill 426, creating the Lake Tahoe Basin Scenic Byway Corridor Recreation Safety Zone on highways serving major recreation destinations. This zone grants enhanced authority for parking management, enforcement, and public access improvements. Because the Lake Tahoe Basin is a bistate region with interconnected travel corridors, consistent authority is needed on the California side to protect public safety and provide uniform expectations for residents and visitors.
(f) California currently lacks equivalent statutory tools needed by the Department of Transportation, local jurisdictions, law enforcement agencies, and the Tahoe Transportation District to safely manage parking, speed limits, pedestrian movement, and recreation access in high-use corridors within the Lake Tahoe Basin.
(g) It is in the interest of the State of California to provide consistent, coordinated, and modernized statutory authority to support safe recreation access, multimodal transportation, environmental protection, and enforcement across the entire Lake Tahoe Basin.
SEC. 2.
Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 898) is added to Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code, to read:CHAPTER 10. Tahoe Safe Recreation Access
898.
This898.1.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:(a) “District” means the Tahoe Transportation District established by Article IX of the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact (Title 7.4 (commencing with Section 66800) of the Government Code).
(b) “Public parking” means a parking space or parking facility, including, but not limited to, a parking deck, parking garage, parking structure, or paved or unpaved parking lot, that members of the public are invited or permitted to enter and use.
(c) “Region” means Lake Tahoe and the adjacent parts of the Counties of El Dorado and Placer lying within the Tahoe Basin in the State of California.
(d) “Tahoe corridor” means the portions of State Routes 28, 50, and 89 that are within the region. region where traffic calming measures or parking facilities are needed to improve safety and provide more equitable access to public lands, as designated pursuant to the contract described in Section 898.2.
(e) (1)“Traffic calming” means a combination of measures and techniques intended to do any of the following:
(A)
(1)
Reduce vehicle speeds.(B)
(2)
Promote safe and pleasant conditions for motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and residents.(C)
(3)
Improve the environment and usability of roadways.(D)
(4)
Improve real and perceived safety for nonmotorized traffic.(2)“Traffic calming” does not include a measure or technique, or a combination thereof, that reduces the number of vehicle lanes in the Tahoe corridor.
898.2.
(a) Within the Tahoe corridor, the department may contract with a state agency, a local government with jurisdiction in the region, or the district, relating to safety, access, and parking in the Tahoe corridor for(1) Designating the portions of state highways that constitute the Tahoe corridor, and placing and maintaining appropriate signage along those designated portions to indicate that they are a portion of the Tahoe corridor.
(1)
(2)
Preventing unsafe parking and pedestrian movement on a state highway, including, but not limited to, by doing any of the following:(A) Placing a traffic control device on a portion of a state highway.
(B) Implementing a traffic calming measure on a portion of a state highway.
(C) Prohibiting or restricting parking on the shoulder of a state highway.
(D) Prohibiting or restricting a person from stopping, leaving standing, or parking a vehicle anywhere on a state highway if the department or a local law enforcement agency determines that doing so is dangerous to other persons or would duly interfere with the free movement of traffic.
(2)
(3)
Enhancing public access to the Tahoe corridor and public recreation sites, including, but not limited to, by doing any of theText of AB 2679 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions