Yosemite road, camp upgrades underway

Workers in Yosemite Valley will be expanding a walk-in campground and upgrading a road that connects Yosemite Village to Yosemite Falls until this winter, according to Yosemite National Park officials.

The work should complement upgrades completed this summer, including a total redesign of the Yosemite Village Parking Area (formerly known as Camp 6), installation of a roundabout, and repaving of road between Stoneman Bridge and Yosemite Village.

Now Northside Drive in Yosemite Valley will be repaved with curbing added. Portions of the road will also be realigned along with sewer and utility work. is being repaved and curbing added. The total cost of the roadwork is about $14 million, coming from Federal Highways Administration, and the Recreational Fee Program, park officials said.

The road projects include 1.7 acres of wetland restoration as part of the Merced River Plan, finalized in 2014, which directs actions that protect the Merced River (a federally designated Wild & Scenic River).

The parking lot of Camp 4 in Yosemite Valley is also being expanded, bringing its capacity to 130 vehicles. Either later this fall or in spring next year, 25 campsites will be added (each site can handle six peopl), which will bring the total to 57 campsites.

A new comfort station will be built at Camp 4 in which showers will be included. This will be the first park campground that will provide shower facilities for people staying in the campground, officials said. The total cost of the campground project is about $2 million, funded by the Recreational Fee Program. It is expected to be completed in 2018.

All roads within Yosemite Valley and Camp 4 remain open during the construction. There are some lane closures and traffic delays associated with the ongoing work. There will be no active construction in the winter, and projects will resume in spring 2018.