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Tree Work Delays, Detours Traffic On Road 274

BASS LAKE — Residents and visitors traveling along the north shore of Bass Lake will want to be aware of traffic delays and temporary road closures as crews continue work to reduce the number of hazard trees along the route.

The Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services, with the United States Forest Service and Madera County Road Department, have announced they are changing the traffic control patterns on Road 274 for the ongoing Tree Mortality Project.

Starting Monday, Aug. 12, the following changes to the traffic control will occur, Monday through Friday for two weeks:

  • 8 to 9 a.m.: One-way traffic control with traffic hold times of no more than 20 minutes.
  • 9 a.m. to noon: Full road closure with a traffic detour in place.
  • Noon to 5 p.m.: One-way traffic control with traffic hold times of no more than 20 minutes.

The project work has moved past Road 434 (Pines Resort turnoff) on Road 274 which allows crews to use a detour route, giving them the ability to close the road for a few hours every day to maximize their efforts to finish this section before the end of August.

The three-hour closure will last for two weeks and will end on Aug. 23.

The Sheriff’s Office will have a Deputy Sheriff and Citizens on Patrol in the area to assist motorists and minimize any traffic impacts to residential area.

The Detour Route will be along Road 432 back to Road 222.

To date, crews have cleared more than 2,000 hazard trees along Road 274 from North Fork to Road 434. The project began on June 3 as an effort to cut down and remove some 5,600 dead or dying trees along Road 274, which borders Bass Lake’s scenic north shore.

Funding for the work comes in part from a $500,000 grant from Cal Fire. Blue Ridge Services, an engineering and consulting firm based in Mariposa that specializes in solid waste management and removal, is managing the subcontractors working on the project.

Since 2010, an estimated 149 million trees have died in California’s national forests due to conditions caused by climate change, unprecedented drought, bark beetle infestation and high tree densities.

For weekly updates on the project, you can text TREEWORK to 888777 to enroll.

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