Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Caltrans Rockfall Project work suspended for the rest of the year; no more traffic delays north of Lee Vining

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

This post was written by Lisa Cutting, 2002-2020 Eastern Sierra Policy Director, 2000-2001 Environmental Resource Coordinator, and 1999 Mono Lake Intern.

As of Wednesday, August 12, the contractor completed Stage 1 of the Lee Vining Rockfall Safety Project and all equipment, including one-lane traffic control signals and barricades, have been removed from the project site. Since early May, Highway 395 north of Lee Vining had been reduced to one-lane to allow the crew room to maneuver—scaling rocks off the slopes, installing anchored mesh, and applying blends of soil amendments and seeds for successful revegetation.

The completed work on Slope 6 of the Lee Vining Rockfall Safety Project: rocks scaled away, anchored mesh installed, and mulch, soil amendments, and seeds applied. Photo by Sandra Noll.
The completed work on Slope 6 of the Lee Vining Rockfall Safety Project: rocks scaled away, anchored mesh installed, and mulch, soil amendments, and seeds applied. Photo by Sandra Noll.

Stage 1 is completed and four of the six project slopes are done. Stage 2 will address slopes 3 and 4 and will begin in spring 2016 as soon as weather conditions allow for work.

The project was originally planned to take two seasons to complete and although it appeared for a while that the entire project would be finished this year, the contractor is playing it safe by not transitioning to the next phase and allowing an entire season for Stage 2. Traffic delays are done for now and all of us—including the contractor—will know what to expect next spring.

2 Comments

  1. Thanks for the update. We did not find the project delays difficult at all. We’ll be back next season and adapt to the work. A stay in Lee Vining and being at Mono Lake is far too important to us to allow such discomfort to ruin our annual life’s batteries recharge!