Visitors to Yellowstone National Park should expect detours and delays when visiting the Old Faithful area, as the National Park Service has shut down a bridge over safety concerns.
Traffic is …
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Visitors to Yellowstone National Park should expect detours and delays when visiting the Old Faithful area, as the National Park Service has shut down a bridge over safety concerns.
Traffic is being routed around the Old Faithful Overpass Bridge “until further notice,” the Park Service announced Wednesday.
Travelers can still access Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin, lodges, stores, the clinic and gas station. However, “if you are not traveling directly to Old Faithful, consider alternate routes due to delays throughout the area,” the Park Service said in a news release.
Crews have been working on the bridge — removing and replacing deck drains, replacing expansion joints, installing new approach slabs, replacing and repairing concrete and resetting the existing bridge rails. However, while making those improvements, the Park Service “determined that the structural integrity of the bridge may be compromised and needed further investigation,” park spokeswoman Linda Veress explained.
She described the closure of the overpass as a “precaution” and said Park Service is “currently evaluating the condition of the bridge.”
Current road statuses are available at www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm or by calling 307-344-2117. To receive Yellowstone road alerts on a mobile phone, text “82190” to 888-777.