|
|
|
|
|
| |
|||
While he feels bad for struggling businesses in Mariposa, a motel manager in Oakhurst says one town's loss is his town's gain.
"This is the best year in the history of this motel," said Jerry Rankin, who manages the Comfort Inn in Oakhurst.
A rockslide in April closed Highway 140, blocking access to Yosemite National Park and stifling what should have been a busy summer for the town of Mariposa. On Friday, officials ceremonially opened a half-mile detour around the rockslide that allows vehicle access to Yosemite from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
 |
A sign in a Mariposa store window Friday afternoon thanks Caltrans for completion of detour bridges. Businesses in the city were affected by a drop in traffic after the rockslide. John Walker / The Fresno Bee |
Hilary Shultz, manager of the Mariposa gift shop Mariam's Place, said many business owners in town have been considering small-business loans to survive. Shultz said she's glad that it's easier to get from Mariposa to Yosemite now.
"It's a big relief," she said. "Business has been way down."
Meanwhile, Oakhurst has been bustling with tourists taking Highway 41 to Yosemite's southern entrance.
The number of vehicles entering Yosemite at its southern gate is up 29% from last summer, and the number of vehicles entering through the Arch Rock Entrance from Highway 140 is down 73%, said Dan Carter, executive director of the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau in Oakhurst.
Overall, the number of vehicles entering Yosemite is up 5% from last summer, Carter said.
About 300 people come through the visitor center daily, and it can take as long as two hours to enter the park through the southern entrance, Carter said.
"There's no doubt that we're getting the traffic," he said.
Rankin, the manager of Comfort Inn in Oakhurst, said the motel has no rooms available on weeknights, which used to be rare.
"There's no question the closing of 140 increased our business dramatically," he said. "The closing of Highway 140 turned a good year in Oakhurst to a great year."
With rooms hard to find in Oakhurst, many travelers are being referred to Mariposa, which is about a 30-minute drive away on Highway 49.
Stephanie Cardoza, a tourist from Los Angeles, couldn't find a room in Oakhurst on Thursday night. After visiting Yosemite during the day, she was steered to Mariposa.
On Friday, she visited the Mariposa Museum and History Center before heading to San Francisco. Cardoza said she was worried when she couldn't find a room in Oakhurst but was glad she ended up in Mariposa.
"I like the small town. You don't see this in Los Angeles," she said. "Next time I'm in Yosemite, I'll stop here."
Leroy Radanovich, tourism coordinator for the Mariposa County Visitors Bureau, estimates that business in Mariposa is down 20%.
But it has not crippled the community, and it is still very difficult to find a room on weekends, he said.
"The people in Oakhurst have been really good about sending people when they're booked," he said. "There are still a fair share of tourists here."
Jessica Villalovos, a front desk clerk at the Super 8 Motel in Mariposa, said business has picked up in August after a lackluster June and July.
Mariposa used to be the preferred spot for travelers because it is closer to Yosemite Valley, she said, but now people are looking at Oakhurst first because of the highway blockage.
John Carney, owner of Yosemite Gifts in Mariposa, said business has been down slightly.
"We're not dying," he said. "It could have been a lot worse."
Carney said he's optimistic that things will improve now that daytime access through Highway 140 has been restored.
 |
Ralph Avilez, a Caltrans inspector, talks Friday about the opening of two bridges over the Merced River. The one-lane bridges will be controlled by stoplights and provide a detour around a massive rockslide that has blocked a section of Highway 140. John Walker / The Fresno Bee |
On Friday, Caltrans workers led vehicles around the rockslide across two one-way bridges over the Merced River.
When the first bridge was completed several weeks ago, a six-mile detour around the rockslide was only open in the morning and in the evening, said Caltrans inspector Ralph Avilez.
The two bridges, one 120 feet long and the other 240 feet long, are about a half-mile apart, Avilez said.
Carney said the rockslide can be an attraction that brings people through Mariposa.
Said Carney: "We're hoping that people will want to see what it looks like."
|
|
|
|