Historic American Engineering Record

“ Do you imagine that ravines with sides inclined at angles of 45, 55, 65, 75 and 95 degrees may be made as smooth as the road to ruin by shovels from Chinese Camp, and only an insignificant toll of one dollar charged each passenger? God forbid!
There are dirt cuttings on the Chinese Camp and Yo Semite Turnpike, three of four inches in thickness: They will last for years, unless another rain comes. Fare for each stage passenger over the road to within twenty-five miles of the valley one dollar in gold. ”

“ He also saw a threat to the park's high country by opening up the terrain to more users. "If a broad highway is built the situation will inevitably change. The tide of population will rise. Crowding will begin and the developments which mass-man always requires for himself will follow." Bradley warned that in times of real or perceived national emergency, the road would become a military highway. He also suggested that reconstruction of the road would draw anew type of motorist, one not interested in the park scenery, but rather a direct east-west route to other destinations. ”

“ What a contrast we found in the steady, cheerful hum of our engine as it drove our car onward at not less than the permitted speed of fifteen miles, leaving the dust behind us and affording unhindered views of the endless panoramas of canyons and hills.... ”

“ Work crews under the direction of George E. Sprague, company Secretary and a surveyor by trade, fashioned a new trail down the cliff-side from Gentry's. The route was so steep that Sprague sometimes had to lower his chainman on a windlass in order to take his readings. [11] Road foreman Dan Newhall had twenty men at work on construction by fall. The new right-of-way was constructed suspiciously like a road, with wide turns and switchbacks. The Sonora Union Democrat commented on the deceptive tactic:
Dan is merely building a horse trail but the picks may slip and widen it out to a wagon road. ”

“ Following the meeting, Wirth announced that a compromise had been reached over the road location, but the Sierra Club had only been able to win a route 100' or so lower on the granite dome, and the construction would result in great scarring of the landscape. The Park Service rejected the club's proposed lower alignment for the road, claiming it would have too steep a grade for safe motoring; one official stated 'We might as well build a hospital at the foot of the hill.' Project opponents failed to impress their arguments on Congress, and work resumed. ”

“ The new road the completion of which was the cause of the celebration, receives the praise of all, as beside a piece of fine engineering and splendid construction, with very easy grades and passing through a continuous shade amidst the wildest and most beautiful scenery.30 Construction of the route was a major achievement, and for the early travelers the trip must have been quite an adventure. ”

“ From Crane Flat southeast to the junction with the All Year Highway, the Big Oak Flat Road also carries traffic between the Tioga Road and Yosemite Valley. The two-lane road is provided with occasional passing turnouts and parking areas, but the road is frequently congested during the main summer season, especially on the section below Crane Flat. Most visitors appear to use the road as a high-speed highway to park attractions, and few seem to take notice of the striking spandrel arch bridges or the excellent rock work along the road. ”

“ In fact, one of the most popular automobile roads in California is the Lincoln Highway or its feeders from coast and central California points to Lake Tahoe, thence south on the State highway to the Tioga road, and over this scenic Federal link in the circle trip to the Yosemite, and finally back to the central valleys.60 The National Park Service was created in 1916, and Stephen Mather was chosen as its first Director. ”

“ Since the construction of this road, a large majority of the tourists visiting the Yosemite Valley have selected it as their route of travel, induced to do so by the location of this road into the Mariposa Big Tree Grove and the points of interest on this road, including Inspiration Point and Glacier Point; also because this road traverses the National Park and enters the valley on the south side thereof, where the most comprehensive views of the wonder of the valley are maintained, and the most beautiful paintings and photographs of Yosemite views are taken from the south side. ”

“ McLean received an exclusive franchise from the Yosemite Board of Commissioners to extend his toll road from Coulterville to Yosemite Valley . The proposed new road alarmed the Tuolumne County interests, who saw that the competing road would decimate their tourist trade at a time at which their mines, the basis of the county's economy, were declining. No traveler would want to take a road that ended at the top of a cliff when an alternate route existed, and their lucrative tolls would be lost. ”

“ At a junction at Chinquapin, the Glacier Point Road departs to the east side of the road. From Chinquapin, the road descends steeply to Turtleback Dome over much exposed rock, then heads east northeast through the Wawona Tunnel, joining the South Road in the Valley below Bridalveil Fall. On this section, the Tunnel View parking area is known as a high-accident area, and several fatalities have occurred here. The tunnel itself is rated as being of substandard width, and scrapes and metal debris are evident where larger vehicles have grazed the tunnel walls. ”

“ If the road was widened to highway standards, he warned that it would attract "the mere restless driver and speed addict." Bradley feared that an improved highway might be kept open all year, leading to the intensive development of the Tuolumne Meadows region for winter sports activities. These consequences, Bradley claimed, would cause visitors to forget "just what a National Park is, and for what purpose it was created." In 1948, club directors Ansel Adams and Richard M. Leonard proposed an alternative route that would avoid the exposed granite country around Tenaya Lake. ”

“ Nevertheless, they are a decided factor in enabling us to enjoy the wonderful views of mountain and valley that present themselves to our eager eyes as we slowly climb the steep ascent. We are sure that we see many vistas quite equal to the view from the much-vaunted Inspiration Point, but they are not so famous because they are less accessible. ”

“ The club, fearing unsightly scarring of the exposed granite, sought to have the road rerouted along the base of the dome, and to have the vista accessible only to motorists willing to leave their cars for a short hike up onto the mountainside. On 4 August, the Sierra Club asked Wirth to shut down the work and to make a persona 1 inspection of the project.119 Two days later, Wirth ordered the Bureau of Public Roads to halt construction on a 1.2-mile section of the road. He then came to Yosemite to inspect the project and to meet with park staff and the Sierra Club opponents of the road. ”

“ The Mariposa Gazette reported on 9 January 1875 "The new road from the south Fork to Yosemite Valley is being pushed forward with determined zeal by men of indomitable energy possessed of ample means." Unseasonably warm weather allowed construction to proceed through most of the winter. By February, the contractors had 200 men at work on the route. On 20 March, the Gazette reported that 13 miles had been completed from Big Tree Station, and that Yosemite-bound tourists were already traveling as far as the temporary terminus. ”

“ Automobiles were banned from Yosemite National Park in 1907 by Acting Superintendent H. C. Benson, and it was not until 16 September 1914 that they were readmitted on the Big Oak Flat Road. The first checking station was erected at Crane Flat, and in 1915 was supplemented by new ones at Gentry's and at the foot of El Capitan. Cars were permitted to run uphill or downhill only at stated intervals. The speed limit was at first 10 miles an hour, but this proved too great for "the Zigzag," and the speed was soon reduced to 6 miles per hour over this section. ”

“ Some of the smaller mines in the Tioga Pass area fell under control of larger operations, such as the Mount Dana Mining Company and the Great Sierra Mining Company.10
Getting supplies to the mine from the east side of the Sierra had proved very difficult, and the owners of the Great Sierra Consolidated Silver Company decided a new wagon trail from the west should be built. They expected to be hauling precious ore as well, and needed a better and more direct way to ship it to market. The Central Pacific Railroad reached Coppperopolis and a connection with the Big Oak Flat Road to the west ”

“ In August, bids were opened for the first part of the road to be reconstructed, the section between Alder Creek and Camp Hoyle. T. E. Connelly of San Francisco was the low bidder, agreeing to do the work for $102,611.12, a figure 75 percent of the engineer's estimate. The bid was accepted on 20 September and clearing work for the right-of-way began four days later. Construction in this area was over 50 percent exposed rock, with additional exposed boulders along the right-of-way. Sugar pine was the predominant tree, and the most common understory growth was live oak and manzanita. ”

“ From the Tioga Road, the old road is closed again to motor vehicles, but can be followed as foot trail northwest to Crane Flat. Near Crane Flat, the road is open to northbound traffic for 5.8 miles through the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias to Hodgdon Meadow and the Big Oak Flat Entrance. Many other traces of the old road can be followed outside the park, including the vertiginous Old Priest Grade above Moccasin Creek.
Most of the old roadway is in fair condition, though abandoned sections have been eroded severely at crossings of streams and their branches. ”

“ In a letter to the club's leaders, he wrote: "Is it necessary to desecrate the Lake Tenaya area by construction of a road of 'highway' standards? What justification can they (the National park Service) present for such a road?... Tenaya Lake is infinitely more important than the Park Service." If the Sierra Club would not take immediate action, Adams stated he would resign and fight the project on his own.115 Bradley and the other directors rejected his resignation, but still hoped to be able to reach a compromise with the Park Service. ”

“ To improve the existing road it should be widened and ditched on the inside with a paved ditch and then proper drainage provided, with culverts. The total elimination of water breaks (which are much complained against by drivers and passengers) is not recommended, since it would endanger the road. About $3,000 per mile will make great improvements on the Wawona Road.51 Pressed by motorists, automobile clubs and civic groups, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane lifted the Yosemite Park ban on automobiles in April 1913. ”

“ The 'Great Sierra Wagon Road' was finished on 4 September 1883. It was a well-constructed route, built by laborers equipped only with hand tools and blasting powder. It had easy grades ranging from 3-10 percent, substantial timber bridges on stone abutments, and occasional culverts and rock retaining walls. The new route left Crocker's station on the Big Oak Flat Road, crossed the South Fork of the Tuolumne River a little way east, then climbed a divide to reach the high portion of the road at White Wolf. ”

“ Something has pegged out however, and the Chinese Camp Yo Semite Turnpike does not reach the valley. For the last twenty-five or thirty miles of the road, where a road is most needed, there is no road, only a trail, toll for horse and rider, one dollar... ”

“ However, the owners of the Wawona Hotel objected, stating that the proposed bypass would decimate their business, and offered a 100'-foot right-of-way across their property. Although engineers had determined that the Big Creek route would have an easier grade and would cost less to construct, the Park Service agreed to Wawona route.64
Engineer Henry S. Tolen of the BPR's San Francisco was sent to Yosemite to survey a new right-of-way. Tolen reported that the steep grades from Grouse Creek up to Inspiration Point and back down to the Valley were too steep for traffic requirements. ”