140 Opens To Limited Use

Highway 140 which has been blocked for several weeks due to a HUGE rockslide, is opening temporarily to visitors and park personnel.

SF Gate: Caltrans will reopen the road Monday for escorted trips — traveling only in one direction — using an emergency bridge, a gravel-covered old railroad right-of-way and an old mountain road to skirt the Ferguson Rockslide, which has buried the riverside highway in 300 feet of rubble about 8 miles west of El Portal.

“This is basically designed for commuters going from Mariposa into Yosemite and back, to ease their burden,” said Bob Boswell, a Caltrans spokesman. “But if a sightseer is staying in Mariposa at one of the motels or campgrounds, they can join the caravan and head right in. But they can’t just show up in the middle of the day and take the detour.”

Construction crews are working on a second emergency bridge on the other side of the slide. When it’s completed — and Caltrans is aiming to get it done before Labor Day weekend — it will cut the detour to a half-mile, Boswell said. When it opens, traffic lights will control one-way traffic across the detour.

Please note that this is only a temporary fix and you’ll need to join up with the caravan and be escorted through the construction zone. It’s still recommended you take an alternate route whenever possible.