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Blasting will start soon along Yellowstone road YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) - Rock cliffs hugging a road that provides the main east entrance to Yellowstone National Park will be blasted this summer to pave the way for a major highway construction project. Dynamiting 16,800 cubic meters of rock will precede an $11 million project set to begin in 2002 and last about three years. The endeavor on the 7.5-mile stretch from the East Entrance to Sylvan Pass will include widening the road, restoring ditches that were paved over in the early 1970s, replacing guard rails and reducing rock slides. "The project is for safety, viewing, congestion - really a number of things," said Tim Hudson, maintenance chief for the park. "But it's still going to be curvy. We want to keep the character of the road." Cliffs near the road are results of blasting and rock cuts that were necessary to build the highway. "In most places they'll widen the road into the rock," he said. "But there are a few places where they'll be able to go out the other way." The blasted material will be used for road construction along Mary Bay of Yellowstone Lake near Fishing Bridge. With the widening, motorists will have more room to pull off, thereby reducing congestion. Earlier this summer, 110 cars stopped on a nearby road for three bison, said Hudson. The wider road will also allow more room for plowed snow. "When there's snow, it pushes the drivers together," he said. "We've even had vehicles bumping mirrors in places in the park." Because the ditches were paved over, moisture on the road has led to damaging erosion. The trenches will be reconstructed. Guard rails, which Hudson describes as "completely inadequate," will be replaced, allowing more room for bicyclists. The work will be difficult, but not impossible, he said. "Each of the projects we do present different problems," he said. "Yes, Sylvan is higher, it's an entrance road, it has rock pieces - it's not a particularly easy one. But they all have difficulties." Thirty-minute delays and night closures can be expected when the work begins and the road will likely be closed in early October for a few years to extend the construction season, he said. Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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