NPS Mission - National Park Service

National Park Service FY 2013 Budget Justifications
to improve safety and traffic flow through the South Entrance Station.
Coordinate efforts being made in conjunction with vehicle circulation and traffic management for the
Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias (supported through Yosemite Conservancy grants).
Project Need/Benefit:
This project is critical for improving numerous safety and visitor experience deficiencies. For Yosemite's
four million annual visitors, the entrance stations function as the "front doors" to the park and are the
first location where visitors come into contact with NPS staff. At present, the quality of the visitor
experience at the South Entrance Station is poor. South Entrance is the second busiest of the five
entrances into the park, with over 10,000 vehicles on busy summer days. Rangers are unable to keep
up with peak use visitation and entrance station traffic back-ups are significant (up to two miles during
peak periods with over an hour and half wait to just to get into the park).
Immediately after leaving the kiosks, visitors are faced with the confusion created by the "T" intersection
of the Wawona Road and the Mariposa Grove Road. The close proximity of the kiosks to the
intersection creates traffic management issues and additional staff are needed to facilitate traffic flow
through the intersection on typical summer days. Improvements, including clearer lane designation and
relocation of the kiosks further away from the intersection, would provide visitors additional time in
which to make a series of decisions about where they are going within the park. These improvements
would be coordinated with the FHWA redesign of the intersection, the last uncompleted section of the
Wawona Road Rehabilitation project.
Employees have little protection from oncoming vehicles running into the kiosks because of the narrow
lane widths. Larger vehicles, such as commercial tractor-trailers, tour buses and RV's, routinely strike
the kiosks as they attempt to enter and exit the South Entrance. This happens approximately 15-20
times a year, and is a major safety concern for employees. On one particular occasion, the main kiosk
was struck by a low-boy trailer and the entire building was knocked off of its foundation and had to be
repaired to make it safe. In an attempt to address these issues over the years, a series of unsightly
temporary fixes have been added including the addition of barrel barricades, jersey barriers, and traffic
cones.
The existing kiosks are vulnerable to theft and robbery due to the inadequate security. With increased
fees collected through the Recreational Fee Program, several thousand dollars can be collected daily
awaiting transport to a depository. The kiosks have many security issues that need to be addressed
including doors and windows that will not shut completely and can be easily broken, poor lighting, no inground
safes in the kiosks and no communications network to operate a panic switch or telephone
reliably.
Health and safety issues that will be addressed include improving the poor ventilation systems and
upgrading the slow or non-existent telephone and internet services so that employees have
communication access in case they need to call for help. Ergonomics is a major concern since entrance
fee workers are confined to the kiosks for their entire work shift. The existing ventilation/ climate control
devices are either dangerous to use, or make working with the noise they produce very difficult. As a
result, carbon monoxide fumes build up due to idling traffic.
The project would: •Improve the entrance station configuration and replace two dilapidated kiosks at
South Entrance with kiosks that are safe and comfortable for park staff consistent with the area's
historic character; •Upgrade safety and improved visitor traffic flow will make it a safer working
environment for the fee entrance workers; •Enhance security measures that would better protect
employees from physical harm from attempted robbery, prevent loss of revenue from theft, improve
communication between park protection and the fee collection staff; •Help the park quantify the amount
of visitors and traffic going through the kiosks and to plan accordingly given those trends;
RecFee-30