Re: Valley Loop Road Construction

Northside Drive remains closed between El Capitan Crossover and Yosemite Lodge while crews complete grading and curb installation. We expect to have this roadway back open no later than Memorial Day weekend. Northside Drive is now 2-way traffic between the Curry Four Way Intersection and Camp Six ("River Straight" and will temporarily carry two (2) way traffic until Southside Drive between the Sentinel Bridge crossover and the Curry Four Way Intersection ("Housekeeping Straight" is repaved. We expect to have the "River Straight" back to one way westbound traffic with a special use lane no later than Memorial Day weekend.

Southside Drive between the Sentinel Bridge crossover and the Curry Four Way Intersection ("Housekeeping Straight" will be re-graded and repaved along with curb installation. There will be a 'hard closure' at Sentinel and Southside for eastbound access (meaning there will be no vehicular, bicycle or pedestrian access on the roadway surface). There will be an established "Bike Path Detour" with signage. DNC employee service vehicles access to Housekeeping Camp,

Laundromat and deliveries may be made via the Curry Four Way thru the east end of the closure. Please use caution, observe lane discipline and lower your speed to 10 MPH in the construction zone. We expect to have this roadway back to two lanes, one way traffic eastbound no later than Memorial Day weekend. Intermittent one lane traffic control will be ongoing along Southside Dr. including turn outs for curb installation.

The trail crew continues work on retaining walls that are adjacent to the bike path near Housekeeping and Southside Drive.

Granted I don't go to yosemite during peak tourist summertime when presumable the road is open, but I have never been able to drive the entire loop on any one trip. Has the Valley Loop EVER gone an entire year without major closures and construction?!?

I sure seem to remember it not being so much of a problem. The last few years have seen a lot more construction than I'm used to.

Lane Closures - The contractor working in Curry Village will require some lane closures over the next few days. Both will be single lane closures only, therefore traffic won’t be significantly delayed or rerouted.

On Wednesday April 8th one lane will be closed at the intersection of Southside Drive and Happy Isles Road. There will be flaggers and lane markers easing vehicular passage through this area. The lane closure will start at approximately 9 am and be complete by 7 pm.

On Thursday April 9th one lane of Curry Village Road will be closed between Roads No. 1 and No. 2. Again there will be flaggers and markers assisting traffic flow. This lane closure will also start at 9 am and be complete by 7 pm.

Back in Dec 2005 I visited Yosemite for the first time in years. Just sort of a shot out of nowhere - decided to visit myself on short notice after a friend asked me about maybe staying in the Ahwahnee. That visit was probably most responsible for my current interest in the outdoors.

I drove through the Valley, but the road to Curry Village and Housekeeping Camp was closed or heavily restricted. I was even under the impression that they might be closed although I did see reservations open for Curry Village when I looked at accommodations.

y_p_w wrote:

> the road to Curry Village and
> Housekeeping Camp was closed

Last week it didn't even have pavement.

Road detour to camping areas (March 30, 2009)





Curry Village parking lot under construction (March 30, 2009)

Eegad! To think that I used to reside there in 1969-1972, and the roads were still 2-way for part of summer, '69. Hmm...Nixon was President, we got a paid holiday for the moon landing, I saw the Glacier Point Hotel burn ('69), witnessed the Stoneman Meadow riot ('70), wrote my thesis on Yosemite ('71). And I worked for $2.89/hour in NPS campground maintenance the first summer and $2.71/hour as a seasonal ranger in 1970. Regular (leaded) gas was 36 cents/gallon at the Lodge station, and there were also gas stations at the Village Store and Curry Village. I'd do it all over again!

Dearborn: I'd do it all over again!

Nice historical capsule!

B

Curbs are one of the best inventions to be applied to the roads in the Valley.

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

Glacier Point Road rehabilitation is currently in contracting. Construction is expected to commence in May 2009 and continue thru May 2010.