Re: Big Oak Flat Rd is opening Saturday

The Big Oak Flat Road is reopening Sat March 10 for those making plans for this weekend...

Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120) in Yosemite National Park to Reopen on Saturday, March 10, 2012
Date: March 8, 2012

Major Road Repairs Completed Four Weeks Ahead of Schedule

Yosemite National Park announces that the Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 within the park) will reopen both lanes of traffic at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 10, 2012. The closure and road repairs were necessary after a large rockslide severely damaged the road on Sunday, January 22, 2012.

The closure was expected to last until early April, but once the repair work began, crews found the extent of subsurface damage was less than originally anticipated. The mild weather over the past few weeks was also a major contributing factor, allowing road crews to work around the clock in order to safely reopen the road to traffic.

"We want to thank park staff, the Federal Highways Administration, and the contractor T. L. Peterson, Inc., for their tremendous effort to open the road quickly," said Don Neubacher, Yosemite National Park Superintendent. "This will help reduce the economic burden that the closure caused for our gateway communities. The reopening is also good news for community members that regularly travel on the road to other parts of the park."

The remaining road repairs work will occur over the next few weeks with minimal delays and intermittent single lane traffic control.

Just saw a post on the Yosemite NP Facebook page saying you don't even have to wait that long...they're re-opening at 2PM today!

That's awesome to hear it has opened ahead of schedule. That closing must have been killing businesses in Groveland.

Second thought, maybe not since it's not too far from the 49.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2012 02:20PM by mbear.

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mbear
That's awesome to hear it has opened ahead of schedule. That closing must have been killing businesses in Groveland.

Second thought, maybe not since it's not too far from the 49.

Hard to tell... Hetch Hetchy was quite busy last Sunday afternoon with day users, more so than I recall in the past for a "winter" weekend. (As an aside, it was frustrating that the closing time was 5:00pm--there was still a good hour or so of sunlight left at 5...)

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basilbop
As an aside, it was frustrating that the closing time was 5:00pm--there was still a good hour or so of sunlight left at 5...

I find it frustrating that there is a closing time at all. It's just theater.