Lake Alpine, CA…Caltrans’ Camp Connell Maintenance Supervisor Mike Johnson shot some video of the walls of snow leading to the Lake Alpine Lodge his crews have cut through in the fight to clear snow from Ebbetts Pass/State Route 4 (SR-4) for the summer season. The video shows the progress for the first week of snow removal on SR-4 with 10’-14’ drifts (and snow currently falling!). Crews across the range are finding deeper than usual drifts at lower elevations as the annual clearing proceeds.

Operations will be from 6 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. We ask, for the safety of the crew and the public, that no one enter behind the closure gate until the road is open.

Lake Alpine is in Alpine County, California at an elevation of 7,388 feet. The crew hopes to get to the west side of Lake Alpine before Fishmas, the traditional opening day of trout season the last Saturday in April, even though the lake will likely be frozen over.

Caltrans manages three trans-Sierra passes in the Central Sierra that are closed during winter and generally open in spring: Ebbetts Pass/SR-4 in Alpine County, Sonora Pass/SR-108 (Tuolumne County) and Monitor Pass/SR-89 (Alpine County).

Caltrans’ goal is to have all winter passes open to the public no later than the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Late season storms, snow accumulation and other factors can sometimes hinder this goal.

Opening passes in the spring involves more than just removing snow. Prior to opening the roadway for public use, vegetation is trimmed back, culverts are cleaned out, the pavement is repaired, cracks are sealed and the roadway is re-striped.

The foremost guiding principle in these procedures is to maintain public and worker safety.

See the video here: https://youtu.be/L57ph13k46U