Oak Grove Bridge

National Park Service and County of Tulare Are Partners in Mineral King Road Improvement, Oak Grove Bridge Renovation
by John Elliott

During a recent visit to Three Rivers, Kuyler Crocker, county supervisor for District 1, updated plans for the 2020s to see some huge investment being made in eastern Tulare County. Some of that untold millions of dollars will be spent right here in Three Rivers as first Sequoia National Park rehabs its portion of the Mineral King Road from the park boundary at Lookout Point to the eastern terminus of the roadway in Mineral King.

That’s more than 13 miles of one of the most breathtaking and historically significant roads in the Sierra Nevada region. The preliminary studies and survey work for that project have already been completed and reconstruction is expected to begin in 2020.

The National Park Service’s road work will pave the way for the rehabilitation of the historic Oak Grove Bridge, built in 1923. Bids on that work are expected to go out before the end of 2020.

Then it’s Tulare County’s turn to garner the funding to complete the 12-mile portion of Mineral King Road that is the County’s responsibility. As fortune would have it, the County’s portion includes the historic Oak Grove Bridge and is the only vehicle access to the Mineral King area of Sequoia National Park and its unique Mineral King Road Cultural Landscape District.

To read the full story, click here.

(Posted by permission of https://3riversnews.com.)

Anyone Going Up to Mineral King?

Is anyone going up on Dec 20, 21, 22nd? Dan needs to check the Silver City webcam and might need a snowmobile ride if there is too much snow on the road.

If you can help, please contact Dan directly at Daniel@illrepute.com.

Thank you!
Sandra Kindred

Snow Report

Batten down the hatches (and drain those water pipes), it's going to be a wintery Thanksgiving week!

Road Report from Mineral King Resident, 11/15/19

Got the cabin closed, but not before I had to remove a tree from the road. I met and spoke with Eric Davenport (our NPS water system maintenance guy), before I got to Lookout Point. So the tree had to have fallen between that time & the time I encountered the tree across the road.

The tree fell about 0.7 miles before you get to the cattle grate just below Faculty Flats. Seems to me there have been several this year.

The good news was that the large broken sections were very dry & not too hard to roll to the side.

Important MK Road Information!

Well, we have issues with our gate lock again. This, from a Silver City resident:

"Our lock appears to have succumbed to series of fatal gunshot wounds, taking 3 to the chest. Per Ranger: Use Park combo lock."

This is just a temporary fix. When our lock has been replaced, I will send out another notice. In the meantime, if you are going up before then, please call or text me at 661-776-5515, identify who you are, and I will text you back the temporary combination.

Road and Gate News

First, my apologies for the lack of an advanced reminder that the Mineral King Road gate was to be shut and locked as of yesterday, October 30.  Remember, there is a new lock combination this winter, so if you need to access your cabin, contact an MKDA Board member by phone for the new number, or leave a message at (661) 776-5515.  The new combo will not be provided by email.

Also, below is an email from Ginger Bradshaw regarding the road work next month.

Sharon

Hi All,

The NPS project manager has informed me that Federal Highways requests to extend their work into Sunday, November 10, with the same closure and opportunities for pass-through. So the dates would now be from Monday, November 4 to Sunday, November 10. Would you share this change with your contacts and let me know if there are concerns?

Please call or email if you have any questions. I will be traveling to Denver for training next week, Monday - Thursday but I should be able to check my email periodically.

Be well,

Ginger Bradshaw

Environmental Protection Specialist

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

<ginger_bradshaw@nps.gov> 

559-565-4266

More Information About Road Testing