Good news and bad news for merchants along the 140 Yosemite Corridor:
The Good News?
Thanks to a $179 million Congressional appropriation in 1997, repairs tothe flood-damaged Highway 140/El Portal Road corridor are slated to beginOctober 1.
The Bad News?
The road repairs mean this middle corridor to Yosemite will be open onlyfor brief windows in the early morning, late afternoon and sporadicallyduring the day. These on & off closures could last for up to 2 years.Weekends should be unaffected.
The Project:
7 miles of the roadway from Yosemite’s Highway 140 entrance to the edge ofYosemite Valley will have to be rebuilt from the bottom up. This sectionhugs the Merced River and was devastated by the unprecedented floods ofJanuary 1997. Temporary fixes, the National Park Service says, have notheld well.
The Problem:
El Portal & Mariposa merchants are concerned that tourists will opt for the120 (northern) or the 41 (southern) corridors rather than risk constructiondelays on 140/El Portal Road, the middle corridor.
The Solution:
There probably isn’t one. Mariposa County business & tourism officialdomwould prefer that repairs be delayed until the off season. Unfortunatelythe off season is when it rains & snows & repair work is delayed further.The 140 Yosemite Corridor, hugging the Merced River, is both beautiful andhistoric; unfortunately it’s also in for major reconstruction.