Ranger George Heinz:
The severe winters in Yellowstone make maintaining the park’s road system a challenge. As crews clear the snow from the roads, they discover damage caused by the long winter. Those repairs and scheduled maintenance can cause delays up to 30 minutes. During the summers of 2009 and 2010 a major project may impact visitors.
Steve Iobst:
My Name is Steve Iobst, I’m the Chief of Maintenance here at Yellowstone. One of the responsibilities the maintenance department has is road reconstruction and this summer visitors to Yellowstone will be faced with some delays related to our road construction program.
The major project that is taking place this summer is the reconstruction of a road segment that is located between Madison Junction and Norris Junction. This reconstruction project is the final phase of the road segment between those two junctions; again Madison and Norris.
Commencing May 26, the Tuesday after Memorial Day, night closures will begin just north of Madison Junction and just south of Norris Junction. This nighttime closure will be seven days a week from 10 o’clock in the evening, that’s 10 PM until 8 o’clock in the morning; 8 AM. Begining August 17, north of Madison and south of Norris Junction will be fully closed to all traffic; that’s public traffic, administrative and emergency traffic.
This is because essentially during this phase of the construction there will not be a road through the Gibbon Canyon area. Various components of this project, including tying the new bridge across the Gibbon River, reconstruction of the bridge at Beryl Spring and then some other components of this project render the road essentially unusable, except for construction activity.
Again, there will be impacts to visitors. It’s important that visitors check in at entrance stations, at hotels in the gateway communities, Chambers of Commerce, Visitor Centers and again on the park website (www.nps.gov/yell) to understand where this road closure will be, between Madison and Norris.
Park staff, as well as our partners would be able to help you choose an alternate route to avoid the construction zone and still get to visit all the features in Yellowstone National Park.
This closure will continue after the park roads are closed on November 2. When visitors come back to the park for the winter season, which starts on December 15, they will be traveling on the new road alignment and that’s the way visitors will travel from then on.
The project will also occur throughout the summer of 2010, with a scheduled completion late in 2010. Visitors will be faced with nighttime closures next year, in 2010, from the Tuesday after Memorial Day until September 1.
Ranger Heinz:
When this project is complete, there will be benefits beyond the safety aspect the new road alignment will provide. By removing a 2-mile section of road from the banks of the Gibbon River, the wild Yellowstone we all love will reclaim the riparian edge of the beautiful place. Visitors will find two new picnic areas and a refurbished Gibbon Falls picnic area.
Whether these closures impact you or not, think safety first as you travel through Yellowstone. Watch for animals crossing the road. And remember, this is Yellowstone National Park and you never know what incredible sights you may encounter as you explore.
