Traffic update: All Highway 140 lanes open to Yosemite following rock slide cleanup

UPDATE: Caltrans on Sunday announced that all lanes are open on Highway 140 at Briceburg in Mariposa County. The highway had been closed for nearly two weeks following a massive rock slide.

UPDATE: The California Highway Patrol on Monday morning began escorting motorists in and out of Yosemite through a section of Highway 140 that had been closed after a rockslide last week.

According to Caltrans, motorists were escorted from the Bug Hostel in Midpines to the Route 140 Yosemite National Park gate at El Portal beginning at 6 a.m. An escort led motorists in the other direction, from the park to Midpines, starting at 7 a.m.

A CHP escort is scheduled to lead motorists out of the park, back to Midpines at 6 p.m.

The Highway is expected to open to one-way traffic control beginning 6 a.m. Tuesday and will continue until 7 p.m. daily, until both lanes of are fully reopened.

The highway will continue to remain closed in both directions overnight.

Expect delays.

ORIGINAL STORY: Among the areas damaged by a storm that passed through the Fresno area last week was a section of Highway 140 near Yosemite National Park.

Caltrans initiated an Emergency Director’s Order on Jan. 15, closing the highway from Midpines to El Portal.

A rockslide near Briceburg in Mariposa County fully covered one lane of highway and partially blocked the second, making it impassable to traffic.

The highway remained closed Saturday, as Caltrans crews worked to clear the slide, stabilize the slope, and make necessary road repairs.

Earlier in the week, an excavator was brought in to remove loose material from the slope and Caltrans said it expected to begin hauling away debris Sunday.

“This cleanup has gone much quicker than we expected,” said Bob Highfill, a public information officer with Caltrans, District 10.

“The photos may not look like much,” he said, but it is “a massive undertaking.”

Caltrans could reopen the highway with one-way traffic control by the middle of next week, Highfill said. That would operate during daytime hours only, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with extended delays.

Fully reopening both lanes to traffic is expected to take another two weeks or more, he said.

Even a partial reopening would be welcome news for area businesses and those who live and work in the area.

Yosemite employees forced to take alternate routes to work

“The rock fall on Highway 140 outside of Yosemite National Park is having a tremendous impact on park employees and park operations,” park spokesman Scott Gediman said.

While the park remains open and accessible, those who commute into or through the park are being forced to use alternative routes on Highway 41 or south to Highway 120. That can mean hourslong delays in travel time, especially for those road crews and others that can’t work remotely, Gediman said.

Any time a road closes, whether it’s from a rock slide or wildfire, “it’s a major concern,” said Tony McDaniel, director of communications at the Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau. Recent storms have left stretches of any alternative routes under chain control at times, adding to the difficulty in getting around.

There are concerns about staffing at area business, especially the longer the highway remains closed, McDaniel said.

If there is any upside to this recent closure, it’s the timing. This is a relatively down time for tourism, so the impact is likely lessened, he said.

This isn’t the first time the highway has been closed by a rockslide and it is nowhere near the worst. In 2006, the so-called Ferguson slide buried Highway 140 in 3 million cubic yards of rock and debris that affected the road for years.

“This community is really strong,” McDaniel said.

“This is not our first rodeo.”

This story was originally published January 21, 2023 at 2:33 PM.