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Rock slides that have closed Highway 140 in recent weeks are more than a temporary inconvenience — they are signs of a serious problem that could take months to solve and drain away millions of dollars from the Mariposa County economy.
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Small slides continue to rain rocks down on this section of Highway 140, about 12 miles west of Yosemite Valley and 10 miles east of the town of Mariposa, that was buried by a rock slide. The slide closed the road indefinitely because of the unstable hillside. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee |
A section of this well-traveled highway, which funnels visitors into the park and helps move traffic around the small foothill county, has been repeatedly buried by rocks and dirt.
No one is predicting when the slide will stop sliding — casting a troublesome question mark over the issue, expense and timing of a permanent fix.
The Merced River Canyon highway is no stranger to slides, but most were cleaned up well enough to let limited traffic through within a few days.
The recent trouble started April 29, when falling rock shut down the highway near El Portal.
The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors — concerned about public safety and a sagging economy — declared a state of emergency. State transportation crews decided to install a rock-catching fence along the highway's eastbound lane, opening the westbound lane to controlled traffic May 25.
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The problems on Highway 140 started with small slides in April and May that caused sporadic closures. A permanent fix for the problem may be costly in both time and money. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee |
Late that day, a large slide crushed the fence, covered the highway and smashed into the Merced River below.
The rocks haven't stopped raining down problems ever since. County officials estimate businesses already have lost up to $4 million because tourists have bypassed the town.
Now, a major challenge awaits transportation officials who must figure out how to reopen the road, reroute traffic or shelter the highway from future rock slides.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. crews already are moving a section of transmission lines that snake through the crumbling hillside.
Two transmission towers that bracket the slide send electricity to El Portal and other areas as well as to the Yosemite Valley, a main tourist destination offering lodging, restaurants and other amenities.
Mark Hendrickson, a government relations manager for PG&E, said the company will install new poles on the opposite side of the river.
Two mammoth generators will take over while the transmission line is moved from the towers to the poles.
Hendrickson said customers shouldn't face major problems during the switch: "Any outage they suffer will most likely be a matter of minutes rather than hours."
Yosemite spokeswoman Adrienne Freeman said Friday that the park also is equipped with generators.
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It's a rough road not only for travelers on Highway 140, but also for the small foothill county of Mariposa, which depends on Yosemite tourists to keep its businesses thriving. Tourism-related losses could hit $14.5 million if the closure continues throughout the summer season, authorities say. Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee |
She said Yosemite really hasn't been affected by the slide: "Everything is open. Even the 140 entrance is open to Yosemite National Park and it's serving thousands of people a day."
While electricity may continue to flow into Yosemite and throughout the area, clearing Highway 140 for travel remains a difficult problem.
California Department of Transportation authorities say the slide would have to stabilize before they could float any solution.
Officials are looking at alternatives such as temporary bridges that would loop traffic around the area.
Last week, Caltrans geologists couldn't get close enough to plant monitors gauging the slide's motion.
"We can see it moving but we don't know why," Bob Boswell, spokesman for the Caltrans district that includes Mariposa County, said Thursday.
"We don't know when it's going to stop because we've never been able to put in any equipment."
Mariposa County officials convened special meetings Friday to discuss the slide.
The Board of Supervisors renewed a local emergency declaration they hope will lead to federal money for repairs.
The county of about 18,000 people continues to cope with flagging tourism and once-routine duties such as holding an election and deploying sheriff's deputies.
With no incorporated cities, the county provides government services.
Highway 140 is the main street cutting through Mariposa.
Blocks lined with gift shops, restaurants, motels and galleries are geared toward tourists heading up to Yosemite.
Alternate routes into the park take visitors around, and not through, Mariposa.
"Businesses are really hurting," said Susan Crain of the Mariposa County Visitors Bureau.
"People have a different travel pattern now."
Tourism-related losses could hit $14.5 million if the closure continues throughout the summer season, authorities say. Local merchants and officials say they are redoubling efforts to promote Mariposa as a tourist destination with original events such as next week's pioneer wagon train and cowboy poetry gathering.
Government officials have their own special headaches.
County Clerk Marjorie Wass tried Friday to find someone willing to donate a helicopter to fly election returns from two precincts in El Portal and Yosemite back to Mariposa.
Wass — who also is the tax collector, treasurer and registrar of voters — hopes to speed up returns on Tuesday.
Pictures on the Sheriff's Department Web site offer a diary of the slide.
Sheriff Jim Allen — one of the photographers — says the road closure poses many logistical problems.
"We just have to rethink everything we do up there," he said. Allen worries the highway could remain closed for up to a year.
Lee Stetson, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said he's heard six months, but "that's if everything went well."
Stetson estimates he's spent four hours watching the slide.
And he's never counted more than 13 seconds without movement.
"The mountain's on a schedule of its own right now," he said.
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