Major Yosemite entrance road set to reopen after rockslide
More than a week after a massive rockslide cut off access to one of the main entrances into Yosemite National Park, a key stretch of Highway 140 is poised to reopen.
As of Tuesday, a 4.5-mile section of Highway 140 was closed east of Briceburg in Mariposa County, according to Caltrans.
That’s scheduled to change Wednesday afternoon, freeing up travel plans for visitors to the popular national park in California’s Sierra Nevada.
By 4 p.m. Wednesday, ”We should be able to put traffic on the road,” said Brian Hooker, a spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation’s District 10.
The roadway will initially be open to one-way traffic controls, Hooker told The Fresno Bee.
Hooker said Caltrans will also have “intermittent traffic controls and flagging operations” on Thursday and Friday, possibly continuing “into the weekend or early next week.”
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Why did Highway 140 close near Yosemite National Park?
A debris slide occurred at approximately 10 p.m. on Monday, March 17, Hooker previously told The Bee, damaging both lanes and resulting in an “immediate full closure of the highway.”
“The rock avalanche took the asphalt off of the road bed,” Hooker explained.
Caltrans teamed up with the California Highway Patrol’s Mariposa office to close the road in both directions just west of the side in Briceburg and to the east of the slide at Yosemite Cedar Lodge, Hooker wrote in an email.
On Tuesday, March 18, Hooker said. “There was additional movement with the slide.”
“Caltrans and the CHP decided extra precautionary measures were needed to ensure the safety of the traveling public, maintenance workers and first responders by keeping the closures in place,” he said.
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When did road repairs start?
Teichert Construction of Sacramento started road repairs on Highway 140 near Yosemite on Tuesday, Hooker said.
On Monday, the construction company removed all of the debris from the roadway, according to Hooker.
“The contractor was then able to begin their pavement work,” Hooker said, with road repair work beginning early Tuesday morning.
“We were blessed to have this unseasonably hot weather,” Hooker said, because it allowed Teichert Construction to lay down that asphalt and have it “set properly at those high elevations.”
“That could be a challenge during the winter months, because it’s too cold usually to put asphalt down,” the Caltrans spokesperson said. “So we got very lucky.”
Intermittent traffic controls and flagging operations will remain in place while the contractor finishes striping work and shoulder backing and installs the rumble strips, according to Hooker.
What are alternate routes for park visitors?
Hooker recommended that drivers use Highway 41 and Highway 120 to access Yosemite National Park and El Portal Road, a continuation of Highway 140, Hooker said via email.
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What to expect while driving on entrance road
Once it reopens, Highway 140 will be an active construction zone for a few days, so drivers should exercise caution, according to Hooker.
“We’re asking motorists to please slow down and move over,” he said.
Drivers can expect delays of 5 to 10 minutes or longer, he said.
He said Caltrans will provide real-time roadwork updates to the public via the Caltrans QuickMap app.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Major Yosemite entrance road set to reopen after rockslide."
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