Webmaster
02-03-2007, 09:14 AM
The Carbon River Road at Mount Rainier is going to be rebuilt.
In an interview today, park superintendent Dave Uberuaga said that he'll recommend to the park service's regional director that the park rebuild the often-washed out road, which runs for 5 miles into the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. The road was seriously damaged by numerous, major washouts in the storm and flooding that hammered the park this fall.
"I believe it's worth the risk to rebuild the road," Uberuaga said. He'll recommend that the road be restored so that visitors and day hikers can continue to drive to the Ipsut Creek campground, and the Carbon Glacier Trail. This 7-mile round trip hike has increased by nearly 10 miles since the road closure. "That hike provides an opportunity to walk to the snout of a glacier--the lowest-elevation glacier in the lower 48 states--in just over three miles and 1,200 feet of elevation gain," he said, "Every time I go, it's pretty amazing."
Uberuaga said he recently met with federal highway officials, and they informed him that crews could rebuild the road within the existing road corridor, or "prism," as park officials call it. The cost estimates came to just around $1 million, which was under the $1.5 million the park had estimated to repair the Carbon River road as part of its $36 million damage estimate for total flood repairs.
Uberuaga said the contracted work could begin almost immediately, and that the first, 3.5-mile stretch of road to the Chenuis Falls trailhead could be complete as early as March 15.
You read that right. March 15, 2007.
Uberuaga anticipated the rest of the work could happen next fall, at the latest, to reopen the road completely to Ipsut campground and trailhead.
Because the road would be reconstructed within the existing prism, the work would not be subject to environmental review. The work would fall under what's known as a "categorical exclusion," which exempts the park from filing an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Uberuaga said his staff would be meeting with the Fish and Wildlife Service next week to talk about impacts to bull trout, an endangered species that uses some streams feeding into the Carbon River. If FWS indicated fish might be affected, Uberuaga said he would consider delaying work for one season. In addition, construction would be limited to between late fall and March 15 to decrease impact on trout.
The area is also home to two other endangered species, the spotted owl and marbled murrelet, but those species would be unlikely to be affected if the road was not rerouted.
Uberuaga estimated that it would take just 10 days to fix the gravel road at the first washout, a 1,900-foot-long gash where the Carbon River jumped its banks and scoured out the road bed. The park is planning to restore the gravel road to again make it accessible to normal passenger cars. "The cost difference between repairing for passenger cars versus 4-wheel-drive vehicles was minimal," he said.
Uberuaga indicated that because the park service has yet to finish acquiring land in the proposed 800-acre addition to the park's northwest corner, this influenced his decision to go ahead with fixing the road once again. The road perennially washes out in fall and winter. In February 2003 and February 2004, about a half mile of the road was washed out and subsequently repaired.
The park's General Management Plan, completed in 2002, says that the park might consider permanently closing the road after a major washout and creating a new car campground in the 800-acre addition, which was passed into law in 2004. However, the park still needs between $9 and $11 million to complete land purchases and build a new campground and facilities in the new addition, Uberuaga said.
Uberuaga said he would meet with the park service's regional manager next week and likely recommend that the Carbon River Road be rebuilt.
"I'm glad that day hiking opportunities will again be available in the Carbon River area," said Washington Trails Association's executive directory Elizabeth Lunney. "But we also hope the park looks very carefully at long term solutions for the Carbon River Road."
The repair of the Carbon River Road would be part of $36 million in repairs the park says it needs to get trails and roads back to the way they were before the storm of November 6-7, which dumped nearly 18 inches of rain on the park in a 36-hour period.
Uberuaga also noted that the park has been making great progress repairing the road to Paradise. The park is still estimating a mid-April opening date for Paradise and a mid-March opening date for Longmire. "We've made good progress during the 10 or 11 days of good weather we've had," he said. Repairing two damaged sections on the road to Paradise could each take an estimated three weeks each, he said. The pace of the work will be dependent on weather conditions, but he was optimistic, barring any major weather, that repair crews would meet those target opening dates.
Congressman Norm Dicks, (D-Bremerton) has committed to securing funds to repair roads, trails and other facilities at Mount Rainier. This includes an $18 million reallocation of funds for existing projects in other parks that may be restored through supplemental funding.
Park officials (and WTA staff) will be watching closely when the Bush administration announces its FY 08 budget on Monday, which will include next year's proposed funding for the National Parks service and U.S. Forest Service.
Photos: Gate across Carbon River Road; view of scoured portions of road washout; pre-flood sign warning drivers to check conditions before setting out. All photos by Andrew Engelson.
source: http://www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin/wtaweb.pl?4+blog+thread+ed+261
In an interview today, park superintendent Dave Uberuaga said that he'll recommend to the park service's regional director that the park rebuild the often-washed out road, which runs for 5 miles into the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. The road was seriously damaged by numerous, major washouts in the storm and flooding that hammered the park this fall.
"I believe it's worth the risk to rebuild the road," Uberuaga said. He'll recommend that the road be restored so that visitors and day hikers can continue to drive to the Ipsut Creek campground, and the Carbon Glacier Trail. This 7-mile round trip hike has increased by nearly 10 miles since the road closure. "That hike provides an opportunity to walk to the snout of a glacier--the lowest-elevation glacier in the lower 48 states--in just over three miles and 1,200 feet of elevation gain," he said, "Every time I go, it's pretty amazing."
Uberuaga said he recently met with federal highway officials, and they informed him that crews could rebuild the road within the existing road corridor, or "prism," as park officials call it. The cost estimates came to just around $1 million, which was under the $1.5 million the park had estimated to repair the Carbon River road as part of its $36 million damage estimate for total flood repairs.
Uberuaga said the contracted work could begin almost immediately, and that the first, 3.5-mile stretch of road to the Chenuis Falls trailhead could be complete as early as March 15.
You read that right. March 15, 2007.
Uberuaga anticipated the rest of the work could happen next fall, at the latest, to reopen the road completely to Ipsut campground and trailhead.
Because the road would be reconstructed within the existing prism, the work would not be subject to environmental review. The work would fall under what's known as a "categorical exclusion," which exempts the park from filing an Environmental Assessment (EA) or an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Uberuaga said his staff would be meeting with the Fish and Wildlife Service next week to talk about impacts to bull trout, an endangered species that uses some streams feeding into the Carbon River. If FWS indicated fish might be affected, Uberuaga said he would consider delaying work for one season. In addition, construction would be limited to between late fall and March 15 to decrease impact on trout.
The area is also home to two other endangered species, the spotted owl and marbled murrelet, but those species would be unlikely to be affected if the road was not rerouted.
Uberuaga estimated that it would take just 10 days to fix the gravel road at the first washout, a 1,900-foot-long gash where the Carbon River jumped its banks and scoured out the road bed. The park is planning to restore the gravel road to again make it accessible to normal passenger cars. "The cost difference between repairing for passenger cars versus 4-wheel-drive vehicles was minimal," he said.
Uberuaga indicated that because the park service has yet to finish acquiring land in the proposed 800-acre addition to the park's northwest corner, this influenced his decision to go ahead with fixing the road once again. The road perennially washes out in fall and winter. In February 2003 and February 2004, about a half mile of the road was washed out and subsequently repaired.
The park's General Management Plan, completed in 2002, says that the park might consider permanently closing the road after a major washout and creating a new car campground in the 800-acre addition, which was passed into law in 2004. However, the park still needs between $9 and $11 million to complete land purchases and build a new campground and facilities in the new addition, Uberuaga said.
Uberuaga said he would meet with the park service's regional manager next week and likely recommend that the Carbon River Road be rebuilt.
"I'm glad that day hiking opportunities will again be available in the Carbon River area," said Washington Trails Association's executive directory Elizabeth Lunney. "But we also hope the park looks very carefully at long term solutions for the Carbon River Road."
The repair of the Carbon River Road would be part of $36 million in repairs the park says it needs to get trails and roads back to the way they were before the storm of November 6-7, which dumped nearly 18 inches of rain on the park in a 36-hour period.
Uberuaga also noted that the park has been making great progress repairing the road to Paradise. The park is still estimating a mid-April opening date for Paradise and a mid-March opening date for Longmire. "We've made good progress during the 10 or 11 days of good weather we've had," he said. Repairing two damaged sections on the road to Paradise could each take an estimated three weeks each, he said. The pace of the work will be dependent on weather conditions, but he was optimistic, barring any major weather, that repair crews would meet those target opening dates.
Congressman Norm Dicks, (D-Bremerton) has committed to securing funds to repair roads, trails and other facilities at Mount Rainier. This includes an $18 million reallocation of funds for existing projects in other parks that may be restored through supplemental funding.
Park officials (and WTA staff) will be watching closely when the Bush administration announces its FY 08 budget on Monday, which will include next year's proposed funding for the National Parks service and U.S. Forest Service.
Photos: Gate across Carbon River Road; view of scoured portions of road washout; pre-flood sign warning drivers to check conditions before setting out. All photos by Andrew Engelson.
source: http://www.wta.org/~wta/cgi-bin/wtaweb.pl?4+blog+thread+ed+261