To pave or not to pave
by Bartshe Miller
What has changed
Cold mix pavement (similar to highway blacktop) extends from the parking lot kiosk and fee hut to just below the 6392' lake level. A wooden, removable boardwalk will cover the remaining distance to the shoreline. Bordering the paved trail on both sides are treated wooden ties, which were set flush with the trail. The trail width is approximately eight feet. Additionally, a cold mix trail and cement curb borders the north and west end of the parking lot.
The new trail makes the lakeshore and bathroom facilities easily accessible for handicapped individuals, and it may link to future shade structures and picnic sites along the edge of the parking lot.
In early August, much to the surprise of all parties involved, Forest Service engineers began expanding the South Tufa parking area. Construction was halted before the entire expansion was completed. The enlarged area represents approximately a
1/4 to 1/3 increase in parking lot size. Both the State Reserve and Mono Lake Committee understood that the final decision about the parking lot expansion was to be made this September. Expansion work went ahead despite the fact that the Forest Service was still seeking input from South Tufa visitors on whether or not they wanted the parking lot to be expanded.More to come
A significant portion of the USFS planned "upgrades" have yet to be implemented and are up for review and final decision at the time of press. The issues of further parking lot expansion, new road construction, paving and striping will be decided before the end of October 1999. Some of the proposed parking lot expansion may involve the destruction of state-protected sand tufa. Also under consideration is the placement and size of developed shade/picnic structures.
Committee member comments are playing a role in these decisions. The USFS has received dozens of letters from members and others commenting on the South Tufa project as it develops. The USFS is also asking for input from visitors at the South Tufa kiosk. For a current update on the South Tufa project please visit our website at www.monolake.org.
The big decision
By mid October the USFS will decide whether or not to proceed with plans to further enlarge and pave the parking lot as well as whether or not to build a new entrance road to the parking area. In public input gathered by both the USFS and the Mono Lake Committee the majority opinion has been "no pavement, no parking lot expansion." The Committee believes that paving the parking lot, building a new entrance road, and paving that road will all significantly diminish the remote and "undeveloped" atmosphere of South Tufa.
Traffic monitoring by Committee staff this past Labor Day weekend revealed that a larger parking lot is not really necessary. The long term maintenance cost and inconvenience of not paving, enlarging, or building a new road is slight compared to the unique experience that can be offered to the visitor if dirt roads and parking lots are maintained as they are. Everywhere we go there are massive, paved parking lots. Cars define the way we live, and large paved parking lots are usually necessary and inescapable, but do we really want to travel all the way to Mono Lake to see another one?
Bartshe Miller is the Committee’s Education Director. He takes pride in his computer desktop policy of seasonal photos and icon minimalism.
Return to Fall 1999
Newsletter
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