Rock Slide Blocks Route to Yosemite: Fall on Highway 140 Shuts Down Key Tourist Corridor to Park.

By Mark Grossi, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

May 02–A rock slide closed a key tourist corridor into Yosemite National Park, the California Department of Transportation reported Monday.

The slide occurred about 9 p.m. Sunday on Highway 140 near Savage Trading Post about eight miles west of El Portal. Authorities closed the road about 2 a.m. Monday.

Caltrans sent a geologist and a hydrologist Monday afternoon to assess the slide. There were no injuries or property damage. There was no estimate on how long the road will be closed.

“The road is not damaged,” said Caltrans spokesman Bob Boswell. “Rock and debris are covering an area about 50 to 60 feet wide and 150 to 160 feet long.”

Highway 140 enters Yosemite from the west at El Portal. Running alongside the Merced River, parts of the highway inside the park were badly damaged in the massive 1997 flood.

The rock slide Sunday night occurred outside the park between El Portal and Briceburg. Caltrans said visitors should choose a different route into the park.

Park officials said visitors can enter through the southern gate at Highway 41 and the Big Oak Flat entrance on Highway 120, north of Highway 140.

Tioga Road, the high-country route linking the park to the east gate, remains closed until spring plowing is completed later this year. There is no estimate on when Tioga will reopen for summer.

The Glacier Point Road beyond Badger Pass also is closed while crews work on plowing.

Park visitorship is beginning to pick up for the warm season. Officials said waterfalls in Yosemite Valley already are spectacular this year because of the thick snowpack, which has just begun to melt.

“The waterfalls haven’t peaked yet,” said park spokeswoman Marea Ortiz. “But they are beautiful and very large. The meadows are all green. It’s really worth seeing.”

The reporter can be reached at mgrossi@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6316.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

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