|
|
|
|
|
| |
|||
Mariposa County tries to block El Portal work
By Russell
Clemings
The Fresno Bee - September 18, 1998
Mariposa County officials have decided to ask a federal judge to block work
from starting on a multiyear rebuilding of the El Portal entrance road to
Yosemite National Park.
County Counsel Jeff Green said the county will seek an injunction, possibly
as soon as today, to halt the $33 million project until park officials take
further steps to soften the effects of road closures on residents and businesses.
The action, authorized Tuesday on a 3-2 vote of the Mariposa County Board
of Supervisors, threatens to further delay work on the project, originally
scheduled to start last December but now set to begin Oct. 1.
When finished, the rebuilding of Highway 140 between El Portal and the park's
Arch Rock entrance station - 7 1/2 miles - will transform the two lanes built
in 1926, into a wider, straighter two-lane roadway that can be used safely
by buses and recreational vehicles.
But during construction, the roadway is scheduled to be closed more than it
is open.
From Oct. 1 until April 30, the road is scheduled to be open only to escorted
convoys, and then only for a few hours in the morning and late afternoon to
evening.
Even during the peak summer tourist season, the road is scheduled to be closed
every night.
Initially, during the project's environmental review, the National Park Service
had proposed a three-year road-building schedule, with fewer road closures.
But park service spokesman Kendell Thompson said that contractors submitted
bids that far exceeded the project's budget. So the park service opted to
save money by slashing the work schedule to two years.
The cost overrun and related changes, in turn, resulted in a 10-month delay
in the project - and a work schedule that includes more closures than had
been planned initially.
"The lowest bid we had was $15 million more than what we had to spend on this
project," Thompson said. "We've got to spend taxpayer money as wisely as we
can."
But Green said that Mariposa County officials believe the increased number
and duration of road closures will cause unbearable hardship to businesses
and residents in the affected area.
As a result, he said, the park service should have reopened the project's
environmental review and looked for ways to reduce or make up for the increased
impacts.
"We feel certain that they have to go through an environmental impact process"
that takes the speeded-up project schedule into account, Green said.
One business owner, Ron Iudice of Photo Express in Mariposa, said he believes
the park service should have negotiated the new schedule with the county rather
than just changing it.
"The impact isn't as important as the fact that they didn't follow procedure,"
Iudice said.
Instead of compressing the schedule and increasing the number of closures,
he said, "maybe they could have scaled down the project a little bit, and
only widen the curves that are the most dangerous."
But Wilderness Society Regional Director Jay Watson, who follows park planning
and construction efforts, said the local businesses need to set aside their
concerns so that the road can be rebuilt as soon as possible.
"I think it's in everybody's best interest that the road get fixed," Watson
said.
A consortium of regional government agencies last month approved a pilot project
that will begin ferrying visitors into Yosemite by bus next summer, with an
eventual goal of creating a system that can carry one-third of the park's
four million annual visitors.
To make that happen, though, park officials say the El Portal road must first
be straightened and widened so that buses going in opposite directions can
pass safely.
Mariposa County officials hope to file their suit in U.S. District Court in
Fresno today and get a hearing on the injunction request before the end of
the month.
Closures associated with constructions are scheduled to begin on October 1.
Temporary delays resulting from equipment moving and other preparatory work
began Sept. 8.
Park visitors and other can get current information on closures and other
road condition by calling (209) 372-0200.
|
|
|
|