On April 1st, County Supervisor Eddie Valero attended the public meeting held by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. In response to an audience question about the county portion of the Mineral King Road, he read the following update provided by the county’s Resource Management Agency.

Permanent Repairs

We are actively working with our Geotechnical Consultant to finalize design recommendations for the proposed permanent retaining structures.

We anticipate securing a design consultant within the next few months. Once on board, they will help us expedite the process to move the project towards construction by early next year.

Temporary Repairs

In addition to the permanent repair project, staff and I inspected the temporary repairs last Thursday (3/7). They are in good condition and still allow for a full sized vehicle (semi truck/trailer combo) to safely pass up to the gate. The road is narrow in places, and it’s one lane at some of the repair sites. But it should not be presenting any limitations to get to the Park Service gate at this time. The road was narrow and one lane in places prior to last year’s damages as well.

The Oak Grove Bridge Project

The Oak Grove bridge is our M375A bridge over the Kaweah River along Mineral King Rd.  Our Design consultant is wrapping up the 90% design and we are starting to work through the right of way acquisition process. We are expecting to get appraisals back soon and will be starting negotiations shortly thereafter.  I believe construction is slated for this time next year, but I’m looping in our Design folks to confirm.

I believe the re-routing that they are referring to is the new alignment that the bridge will take. It’s just a few feet away from the old bridge, which will be preserved and open to foot traffic since it’s considered a historical structure.