Glacier Point Road Construction To Close Roadway Next Year
Yosemite, CA – A nearly two year multi-million dollar federally funded facelift for Glacier Point Road in Yosemite National Park will keep the roadway shut down for all of 2022.
“The road is in poor shape basically,” acknowledged Park Ranger Scott Gediman, who detailed, “There is potholes. The road bed has been eroded and it just hasn’t really had any sort of major rehabilitations for many years.”
The existing roadway was completed in 1936, replacing the original wagon road built in 1882. The much-needed repairs are being done by the Federal Highway Association and will take place from spring through fall in 2022 and 2023, unless unforeseen weather extends the project, noted Gediman. The roadway is currently closed for the season and would typically reopen in May. Instead, it will continue to be closed for the rest of 2022. Then in 2023, it will reopen with construction still going on and motorists can expect 30-minute delays where work is taking place. The only access to the roadway will be via the Four Mile, Panorama, and Pohono Trails, all of which are strenuous hikes, detailed Gediman.
The high traffic area brings large numbers of visitors year-round to the park because it provides access to Bridalveil Creek Campground, Glacier Point, the Badger Pass Ski Area, and numerous trailheads. Gediman noted, “We certainly asked if the road could be opened during the construction, it’s going to be such extensive work there is just no way to keep it open.”
In addition to pulverizing and paving the entire road from Badger Pass to Glacier Point, park officials provided these key areas where construction will be done:
- Repair curves on the road leading down to Glacier Point. This road segment contains steep and narrow hairpin curves that drop 600 feet in elevation in about 1.6 miles. Currently, large vehicles cross the double-yellow centerline to navigate the curves.
- Address safety hazards at the scenic overlook viewing the Clark Range by improving the pullout.
- Repair road areas west of Summit Meadow to prevent the continued settlement of the roadway.
- Pave the overflow parking area at the Sentinel Dome trailhead. Current off-pavement parking is damaging fragile resources in this high-elevation habitat. This parking area will continue to accommodate the same number of vehicles. Additionally, new accessible vault toilets will be installed at the parking area.
- Formalize the McGurk Meadow Trailhead parking area to increase safety.
- Repave the Glacier Point parking area. Additionally, two new concrete staircases will be built to connect the upper and lower parking areas and one additional oversize vehicle space will be created.
