The
Generals Highway Rehabilitation Project The
Generals Highway Rehabilitation Project In 1926, the first 16 miles of the Generals Highway opened, linking a foothills wagon road to the Giant Forest. It saw its first pavement in 1929. The 30 miles to Grant Grove opened in 1935, while the Civilian Conservation Corps of the Great Depression days were building the rock guardwalls, drains, and watering stations that add so much history and character to the earlier stretch.
What should be done when a historic road like this, a road at home within a landscape, wears out? When the numbers and sizes of modern vehicles, undreamed of by its builders, can no longer safely travel it?
Engineers from the Federal Highway Administration, experts in road building, worked out a plan with the National Park Service, experts in conservation. The basic objectives of the project are straightforward:
Traffic may be reduced to one lane in places. Watch for signs, flaggers or pilot cars to direct you.
On evenings and weekends, traffic lights may hold travel for several minutes to allow cars to pass safely where the road is reduced to one lane. For everyone's safety, please obey these signals.
Note: While waiting for the road to open, be sure to let your brakes cool: put your car in park, turn it off, set the parking brake, and take your foot off the pedal.
The changes will make the road safer, but the character of the road will be maintained. Alignment and grade will stay essentially the same. The curves and scenery will remain.
Your patience is appreciated.
