Rockslide blocking road to Yosemite in Mariposa County

MARIPOSA COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Big boulders are blocking the road on both sides of Highway 140 in Mariposa County near Briceburg.

The scenic sight is now covered with road closed signs and California Highway Patrol officers.

"That area in the river canyon, it's always pretty dangerous whenever there's a lot of rain and rockslides coming down," said Officer Steven Mullen with California Highway Patrol in Mariposa.

Officer Mullen says they are working with Caltrans to assess the damage and keep everyone safe.

"The engineers are worried more rocks could come down as they're working on it, so they're hesitant to open it up to one-way traffic control until they can figure out a way to make sure that it can be stabilized up highway. They don't want rocks falling on people driving by," said Officer Mullen.

Mariposa County Unified School District says they've set up satellite campuses for students who can't get to campus due to the fallen rocks.

An aerial look from Caltrans shows just how massive the debris is, causing concern for people who want to travel to Yosemite.

"It takes generally from Mariposa, about an hour to get into the Valley floor from our location. Once they find out the rockslide has happened, it's obviously turning people around," said Kari Kisela, with the Mariposa County Chamber of Commerce.

Kisela is now worried about the long-term impact.

"I'm sure that we're going to take a hit until the economy with retail, and our sweet mom-and-pop shops," said Kisela.

That's including stores like Yosemite Gifts in Mariposa.

"Monday was a really good day, and then yesterday and today's been slow," said Su Carney, owner of Yosemite Gifts.

This isn't the first time the town has been impacted by debris. In 2006, the Ferguson rockslide rocked the town. The damage is still evident on the road - within a half mile of the current closure.

Caltrans does expect this to be a long-term closure, but they are working as quickly as possible to reopen the roadways, pending any damage the rocks may have caused.

For news updates, follow Brianna Willis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.