Yellowstone Historic Resource Study The History of the Construction of the Road System in Yellowstone National Park, 1872-1966

In all phases of the work the landscape architect and the highway engineer shall exercise imagination, ingenuity, and restraint to conserve park values.

—Conrad Wirth, Director, National Park Service

During the early 1950s, with visitors to the National Park system increasing at record rates, funding and staffing inadequate, and the physical plants and road systems in deteriorated condition or otherwise inadequate, a dismal picture was being painted for the parks and monuments. In a 1953 Harper's Magazine article, "Let's Close the National Parks," author Bernard DeVoto presented the state of the parks situation. DeVoto wrote:

Congress did not provide money to rehabilitate the parks at the end of the war, it has not provided money to meet the enormously increased demand. So much of the priceless heritage which the Service must safeguard for the United States is beginning to go to hell. . . . The crisis is now in sight. Homeopathic measures will no longer suffice; thirty cents here and a dollar-seventy-five there will no longer keep the national park system in operation. I estimate that an appropriation of two hundred and fifty million dollars, backed by another one to provide the enlarged staff of experts required to expend it properly in no more than five years, would restore the parks to what they were in 1940 . . . No such sums will be appropriated. Therefore only one course seems possible. The national park system must be temporarily reduced to a size for which Congress is willing to pay. Let us, as a beginning, close Yellowstone, Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, and Grand Canyon National Parks—close and seal them, assign the Army to patrol them, and so hold them secure till they can be reopened. . . . held in trust for a more enlightened future . . . [perhaps this would] bring this nationally disgraceful situation to the really serious attention of the Congress which is responsible for it. [385]

Perhaps the national focus on the parks dilemma forced action, because it was not long before the endorsement of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, his Cabinet, and the Congress backed the National Park Service new 10-year plan, MISSION 66, a proposal to "develop and staff these priceless possessions of the American people as to permit their wisest possible use; maximum enjoyment for those who use them; and maximum protection of the scenic, scientific, wilderness and historic resources that give them distinction." The new program was projected to be completed in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service. The main focus of this program of "enjoyment-without-impairment" was construction of roads, trails, camp and picnic grounds, public use and administration buildings and utilities to meet the needs of the expected 80 million visitors in 1966. An estimated $786 million was needed to complete the plan. Congress, with the support of western senators and representatives such as Senators Murray, Barrett, Neuberger, Goldwater, Jackson, and O'Mahoney and Representative Engle, appropriated $48,866,300 for 1956, $68 million for 1957, $76,004,000 for 1958, and $79,962,000 for 1959. However, for road activities, the funds were given under the authority of the Federal Aid Highway Act, which in 1956 amounted to $16 million. [386]

In Yellowstone, the MISSION 66 program needed to address three areas in order for the Park to "yield the benefits of which it is capable: an adequate road and trail system giving access to important and significant features of the Park; adequate facilities for visitor comfort, welfare, and subsistence; and effective presentation, interpretation, and protection of the resources of Yellowstone by a management staff." [387]

The Park projected visitation of over two million by 1966 and officials knew the road system was the "major key to the most effective use of the Park." The original configuration of the Grand Loop and the entrance roads still fulfilled visitation needs, but it was felt that the system needed to be modernized to accommodate present and future traffic volume. The MISSION 66 plan did not call for any additional miles of road to be built, but did suggest that some of the existing roads located near important features of the park be relocated. The road standards of 20 feet of traffic lane, with the additional 3 feet of flanking-improved shoulder were used. In addition to addressing the road system, attention was given to providing sufficient parking and pullout areas to aid visitors in their enjoyment of the resources and beauty of the Park safely. They also called for the replacement of 14 old bridges, which were considered too narrow for then present day traffic. The estimate for the 10-year road and trail improvement program was $36,500,000. The total estimate for all improvements for the MISSION 66 program in Yellowstone was $70 million, which included the private investment of $15 million by the concessioner for lodges, cabins, and other concession facilities. Yellowstone estimated that in order to provide proper maintenance, management, protection, and service to visitors, their operational costs would rise from $1,471,000 to $2,226,000 by 1966.

The Park knew that the immediate visitors would have some inconvenience due to facilities and road construction, but the overall goal of providing the visitors with a "meaningful experience in observing, enjoying, and understanding Yellowstone would be worth the 10-year effort." [388]

In 1956, the Bureau of Public Roads and the National Park Service began formulating the projects for the first year, 1957. The tentative plans called for two projects—base and top surfacing of the Lake Junction to Canyon Junction road and construction of adjacent parking areas (11.4 miles); and the final paving of the Norris Junction to Canyon Junction road, and top surfacing of 3.5 miles of the east section of the road. [389]

The two Agencies agreed to specific design and construction items:

1. A minimum width of 26 feet will be used which includes 22 feet of pavement and 2-foot shoulders. Additional width up to 28 feet, primarily on fill sections, to be obtained where possible through utilization of waste material resulting from slope flattening and other operations.

2. Native grass shoulders to be provided by addition of fines to shoulder material, nutrients, seeding and watering, and a bituminous mulch. This would not be equivalent to a stabilized grass shoulder, but is the best that can be provided on the present roadbed.

3. Plant mix surfacing to be included on all parking areas in lieu of bituminous surface treatment previously proposed.

4. Due to the type of material available for the plant mix, the Bureau of Public Roads recommended and all concurred in elimination of seal coat and chips. The reason for this is that material requires excessively long period to cure and a seal coat would merely retard this process. In addition, the Bureau is of the opinion that a seal coat is not necessary on the dense graded plant mix surfacing to be used on this job.

5. A special design has been prepared for the Mud Geyser area using a concrete slab with proper drainage provided for the escape of gases and corrosive liquids. The concrete slab to be surfaced with a standard plant mix pavement.

6. Horizontal alignment near station 445 to be eased to relieve sharp turn from the South. Vertical curve between 416-426 to be lowered to provide better sight distance

7. Since existing fill slopes have stabilized naturally over the years, all bituminous berms will be eliminated except for approximately 375 feet in two locations.

8. All standard AASHO regulatory signs to be furnished and installed by the contractor. Road striping to be done by the National Park Service with funds provided as a supplemental item in the estimates.

9. At parking areas painted delineator strips to be used rather than minimal aggregate guide markers.

10. Bituminous gutters to be used but only in reasonably dry locations where subsurface moisture conditions will not cause early disintegration.

11. Minimum 8-inch diameter guide posts to be substituted wherever possible for guardrail. However, some guardrail replacement will still be required in certain hazardous locations. [390]

In addition, it was decided that 12-inch-diameter log curbs would be used in all of the ten new parking areas instead of the then useful 18-inch logs or stone curbing, which was prohibitively costly and difficult to obtain. All of the logs used for curbing guardrails, and guide posts were to be given a soak treatment of "penta" after fabrication.

Roadside slopes, which were stabilized and had revegetated naturally, would not be disturbed. Those that were disturbed would be seeded with native grasses, watered, and given a bituminous mulch. All surfacing, aggregate material and top was to be obtained from the Trout Creek pit, and all concrete aggregate would be obtained from outside of the Park. [391]

Toward the end of 1956, the tentative 10-year road program was set. However, several emergency situations and logistical problems caused by building construction in particular areas shifted the priorities a bit. [392] Due to the necessary passage of many heavily loaded vehicles supplying construction activities, the building of the older, weak bridges moved to the top of the list. While the bridges appeared to be adequate for visitor needs, bottlenecks caused by hauling supplies, safety factors, and increased building and construction costs due to construction delays demanded their immediate replacement. Of particular note were the condition of the Lewis River Bridge and the Yellowstone River Bridge near Tower Junction. Very high water during the spring of 1956 caused heavy runoff, especially on the East Entrance Road. Extensive damage was done to the road by slides and erosion, requiring new and more substantial drainage structures. [393]

In November, 1958, Conrad Wirth, a landscape architect by training and the current director of the National Park Service, wrote a preamble for the "Handbook of Standards for National Park and Parkway Roads" in which he tried to guide the direction in which this extensive MISSION 66 program would take road improvements and reconstruction in the system:

This Handbook is intended to be used as a guide by those who are responsible for the locating, designing, and building of park and parkway roads. The purpose of roads in units of the national park system is to give the public reasonable and leisurely access to scenic and other features. Such roads shall be located, designed and constructed with this in mind. Thus they become principal facilities for presenting and interpreting the inspirational values of a park, monument or parkway. In the location, design and construction stages, the alignment, grade and cross section of all park and parkway roads shall be fitted to the terrain as closely as possible to preserve the landscape. Pavement, shoulder widths and curvature should be adequate for the leisurely traveler and turnouts and parking overlooks shall be provided at frequent intervals. In all phases of the work the landscape architect and the highway engineer shall exercise imagination, ingenuity, and restraint to conserve park values. [394]

However, the 1958 standards did allow "tremendous flexibility of application" and in many areas of the system, the weakness of the standards resulted in the unnecessary ruin of distinctive park roads, ie. Grand Canyon South Rim Road and the Tioga Road along the Tenaya Lake in Yosemite.

By 1966, some 14 major bridges and several major culverts had been constructed in Yellowstone. [395] For the most part, these new bridges blended with the environment, despite the fact that their design moved away from the obvious rustic design of the pre-World War II era.

While the widths of the roads increased and more modern and less rustic bridges were built in the Park, it would be the period just after the MISSION 66 when part of the Yellowstone road system would take on a "less than park roads-like feeling". The construction of the modern, "anywhere USA" Old Faithful Interchange in 1969 was a definite deviation from the nearly 90 year old philosophy of roads "blending with the environment." The motives for building a bypass to remove the traffic congestion away from the natural features were quite sound, but the execution was a landscape design failure. During the late 1960s, bypasses for the Park's other congested intersections were discussed and planned—Lake, Fishing Bridge, Grant Village, and West Thumb. In addition to the Old Faithful Interchange, four new bridges were built during the 1970s. [396] As the Park prepares to move into the 21st century and meet the needs of not only the American visiting public, but ever-increasing foreign visitation, a 20-year road reconstruction program began in 1988 by the Federal Highway Administration. With improved technology, copious park planning, and sensitive park management, improved park roads should provide the 21st century visitors not only comfort and safety, but also a subtle experience. In the travelers' quest to visit the different natural wonders and major areas, it is the Grand Loop and the Entrance Roads that provide the continuity of feeling that one is in a "special place."