HWY. 140 To Get Replacement Bridges
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HWY. 140 TO GET REPLACEMENT BRIDGES
Mark Grossi
The Fresno Bee
23 April 2008
The California Department of Transportation soon will replace emergency bridges with $8 million temporary bridges around a massive rock slide on Highway 140, along the western route to Yosemite National Park.
The temporary bridges are expected to be finished in the next couple of months, though there is no specific timetable, said Caltrans spokeswoman Lisa Balcom.
Traffic will continue during construction, using emergency bridges that were installed in 2006 after the rock slide.
The new bridges will be able to accommodate 45-foot buses, she said. The current bridges can only handle vehicles up to 28 feet.
The new bridges will function the same way as the old ones. Signals will allow east-west traffic to alternate using the one-way bridges, which bypass the rock slide by moving vehicles across the Merced River for a short distance.
About 70,000 tons of rock and debris block the highway about 12 miles west of the Yosemite entrance. State officials are in the process of deciding on a permanent bypass, which might cost up to $62 million.
Mariposa businesses lost money in 2006, but they recovered somewhat in 2007, officials said. Business owners are anxious to know when the permanent fix will be completed. Caltrans had estimated as early as 2012.
Public meetings on environmental documents for the permanent fix are expected in El Portal and Mariposa this summer, Balcom said. Caltrans wants to complete the documentation by August, she said.
