Why not? If there is no snow on the road, open it.

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hotrod4x5
Why not? If there is no snow on the road, open it.

Avalanche risk?

Is there enough snow to even have an avalanche?

In December, the T. Meadow ranger report said that there was 5 feet of snow on Tioga Rd between the east gate and T. Meadows. There is probably more now. I don't think that there is enough for a avalanche but they don't want to spend the money to plow the road. And, now more snow is coming.

Isn't the major avalanche danger at Olmstead? At 1700 feet lower, and facing the sun, the danger at Olmstead can't be that much. I think it's just the cost of plowing and the cost of the patrols. The road would probably be closed at night with no overnight parking. That takes additional manpower that might not be available physically, or budget, wise.

Less expensive to plow the road as it snows, or wait until spring and remove tons all at once with heavier equipment?

I think it would be more expensive to keep plowing after each storm because it would mean more man hours than doing it that one period of time. And, like Dave said, there is probably not the staff to do it at this time. Also, if the road was opened they would have to have staff to patrol the road and how cost effective would that be for the small amount of people that would be using the road at this time, especially during the week.