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A massive mountain rockslide blocking Highway 140 between Mariposa and Yosemite National Park dumped more loose rocks and dirt during an inspection tour Monday by federal, state and local emergency officials.
Leading the group working on both short- and long-term remedies for the avalanche of dirt and rocks that since April 29 has blocked the two-lane roadway and stifled travel was Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa.
"That is a moving mountain," Radanovich said by telephone from Mariposa. "My job is making sure that the federal agencies are working with the state agencies."
After the April rockslide, the California Department of Transportation built a rock-catching fence beside the two-lane highway as an interim fix. The road reopened on May 25.
But on May 26, more dirt and rocks slid off the mountain, crushing the Caltrans fence. The road has been closed since, crushing tourism through Mariposa to Yosemite National Park.
Radanovich said he is working with California on a federal aid request to President Bush. Then, he will start looking for money to fund a permanent solution to the disaster that county officials estimate already has cost millions in tourist dollars.
A permanent route around, under or over the rockslide could cost $100 million, Radanovich said. Meanwhile work on a temporary solution is progressing "at a pretty good pace."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers helped decide that the best temporary solution would be for Caltrans to build two metal-frame bridges allowing vehicles to cross the Merced River, which runs just across Highway 140 from the steep mountain.
Radanovich said he expects the first bridge to be completed by the end of July. That will divert traffic across the river and upriver about six miles to an existing bridge near the town of Foresta.
A second temporary bridge just above the first one will then be built to allow traffic to slowly but more conveniently bypass the slide area. Permanent solutions being considered include a tunnel under the slide area or an overpass above it.
"The first bridge will get things going," Radanovich said.
Without the summer flow of motor homes, tour buses and cars filled with Yosemite tourists, business in Mariposa has suffered. One or two businesses already have closed, Mariposa County Supervisor Dianne Fritz said shortly after Radanovich left the Happy Burger Diner she owns with her husband.
Fritz also is a director of the Chamber of Commerce in the slide-stricken foothills town. On Friday with Radanovich, she, too, saw the still-moving mountain for the first time.
"He was quite shocked as we all were," Fritz said. "It is massive. It was nice having him up as a catalyst."
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