Yosemite National Park Announces Availability of the Tioga Road Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment for Public Review

Date: August 5, 2011

Yosemite National Park announces the release of The Tioga Road Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment (EA). The Tioga Road is the popular east-west road crossing the northern portion of Yosemite National Park. The road is open seasonally, typically from May through October.  

The EA is now available for public review and the park is accepting comments from August 8, 2011 through September 8, 2011. The EA addresses the rehabilitation of approximately 41 miles of the Tioga Road. The project addresses aging and deteriorated pavement and drainage features, as well as existing public safety concerns and natural resource impacts.

The following goals guided development of alternatives for the proposed Tioga Road rehabilitation:

• Improve the safety of visitors and employees traveling on Tioga Road.
• Maintain the character of the road corridor, including significant cultural landscape characteristics such as the curvilinear alignment, grade, and road features including culverts, retaining walls, and turnouts.
• Restore drainage features to control erosion and to protect natural and cultural resources.
• Increase accessibility for park visitors and reduce confusion regarding designated roadside turnouts.
• Manage roadside parking and traffic flow through improved turnouts.
• Reduce rockfall potential along Tioga Road by scaling rock at select locations.
• Manage and improve the Tuolumne Grove parking area.

A digital copy of the EA is available on the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/tiogaroad. The preferred method for submitting comments is through the PEPC website above. Comments may also be submitted via mail to: Superintendent, Yosemite National Park, Attn: The Tioga Road Rehabilitation Plan, PO Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389.  

The park will hold a site visit for August 23, 2011 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. to discuss the planning effort. Visitor wishing to attend the site visit should meet at the large turnout west of White Wolf along the Tioga Road (Highway 120). This is an opportunity for visitors to learn more about the Tioga Road Rehabilitation Project. Visitors are urged to ask questions and provide comment regarding the planning effort. Visitors should plan to wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen, and appropriate clothing, and bring water and lunch.

The public is invited to discuss the plan with park staff on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at the park’s Open House at the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center Auditorium in Yosemite Valley from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Printed and CD copies of the plan will be available at the Open House.