Traffic restored a week after fall

2012 COPYRIGHT UNION DEMOCRAT

Big Oak Flat Road in Yosemite National Park re-opened Saturday after being closed for nearly a week when a Jan. 22 rockfall damaged a portion of it between Foresta Road and the El Portal Road junction.

The road was re-opened to unrestricted traffic at 8 a.m. Saturday. The park’s Roads and Trails Crew was able to re-establish two lanes on the road by creating a gravel surface over the damaged portion.
   

Park visitors were urged to travel with caution and drive slowly through the rockfall area.

Temporary road closures will take place this week to allow crews unrestricted access to pave the road, according to a press release. Exact days and times have not yet been determined.

Initial estimates had the road being closed anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months after a 1,200 ton boulder damaged a 25-foot stretch of the road.

Federal Highway Administration officials were called to the scene Thursday to assess the damage, which turned out to be less severe than expected.

Local business owners in communities surrounding the park’s west entrance were concerned because the road grants access to the popular Yosemite Valley for traffic coming from Highway 120.

“All of the work on the road has been accomplished by the efforts of Roads and Trails Crew in the Division of Facilities Management,” park Superintendent Don Neubacher said in a Friday news release. “I’d like to personally praise them for their tireless work, dedication and skill in getting the road back open.”