Yellowstone National Park
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2009 09-062
Al Nash or Stacy Vallie (307) 344-2015

Road Between Norris and Madison To Close August 17
Traffic Detour To Last Through Fall Season

A section of Yellowstone’s Grand Loop Road linking Madison and Norris will be completely closed to all traffic beginning August 17, due to major construction underway.

The road will be completely closed to all traffic 24-hours a day between Artist Paint Pots through Gibbon Canyon to the Tuff Cliff Picnic Area from August 17 through the November 2 fall closing date of most park interior roads.

The full closure is necessary in order to construct a new bridge span across the Gibbon River, replace the deck and surface of the bridge near Beryl Springs, and continue to remove massive amounts of rock and dirt to realign the road near Gibbon Falls.

This work can only be done during the summer and fall, due to the length and severity of winter in the interior of Yellowstone National Park.

Despite the closure, park visitors will still be able to travel to and between all major locations in the park. However, it may take more time than normal to travel between some locations during this time.

During this full closure, anglers will be allowed to access the Gibbon River between Artist Paint Pots to the bridge north of the Monument Geyser Basin trailhead, and from one mile south of Gibbon Falls to the Tuff Cliff Picnic area, as long as they don’t walk on, along, or near the road. A map showing the fishing closure is available at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/upload/FishClosureAugThroughNov_Together.pdf
The road will be open for snowmobile and snowcoach travel for the December 15 scheduled start of the 2009-2010 winter season.

Construction work will resume once the road between Norris and Madison reopens to automobiles on April 16, 2010. Visitors can expect up to 30-minute delays from April on into October. After Memorial Day, visitors can also expect nightly closures from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. The nightly closures are expected to end just prior to the Labor Day holiday weekend. There will be no all-day or multi-day closures of the road between Madison and Norris in 2010.

Park staff members have been holding public meetings throughout the region since May to provide details about this and other park road projects. Two more meetings are set for later this month. The first will be held in West Yellowstone on Wednesday, August 12, at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the West Yellowstone Visitor Information Center at 30 Yellowstone Avenue. The other will be at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 24, at the new Yellowstone Association Headquarters building near the Roosevelt Arch on West Park Street in Gardiner.

Maps and additional details on park road construction projects are available at all visitor centers and online at http://www.nps.gov/yell. Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is always available 24 hours a day by calling 307 344-2117.