Repair work on Big Oak Flat Road continues
Courtesy of National Park Service Repairs continue at Big Oak Flat Road, which has been closed since late February due to sliding soil that undermined it.
Yosemite National Park officials report that progress continues to be made on repairs to the Big Oak Flat Road, one of the main accesses to the park.
In early April, road crews dug down 65 feet to the bottom of an underground spring that caused soils to erode. The slope has been stabilized and soil and rock have been brought into the park to rebuild the roadbed.
As of Tuesday, the roadbed had been built up 26 feet, which is about halfway to the road surface.
Severe winter storms gave new life to the underground spring and caused saturated, heavy soils under the road to slide downhill. More than 200 feet of roadway was impacted. As a result, Big Oak Flat Road, from Crane Flat to Foresta Junction, has been unsafe for motor travel and closed for repairs since late February.
Visitors are urged to visit Yosemite National Park via the Big Oak Flat entrance, and the park has waived the entry fee for that entrance. Park entrance fees still apply to all visitors entering the park via Hetch Hetchy, the Arch Rock and South entrance stations.
State Route 140 (El Portal Road) and SR 41 (Wawona Road) are open and clear for all traffic to access Yosemite Valley and Wawona.
For updated 24-hour road and weather conditions for Yosemite National Park, call 209-372-0200, press 1 and press 1 again.