Opinion ID: 3037935
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Road and Park Policies

Text: The Big Oak Flat Road (“Road”) is a two-lane road with 11-foot wide lanes and a northwest to southeast orientation. It is one of the principal routes for traffic in and out of the park and is heavily traveled during the summer tourist season. The segment of the Road where the accident occurred includes three tunnels, three bridges and the Cascade Creek Bridge vista point. Eight other pullouts punctuate the Road, which was constructed between 1937 and 1940 and has been neither redesigned nor reconstructed since its creation. The Road is a part of the national park system of roads. In 1968, the National Park Service created the Park Road Standards (“Standards”) to establish policies for the design and construction of the nation’s park roads. In 1984, it prepared new standards to be applied “as existing roads are reconstructed or when new roads are constructed.” The 1984 Standards state that “[i]n most parks, a road system is already in place, having been constructed in accordance with the National Park Service Policies.” The Standards “are intended to be applied uniformly to both new construction and reconstruction of park roads on a Servicewide basis to the extent practicable, based on projections of actual, or planned and controlled use,” and they acknowledge that “[o]n rehabilitation, restoration and resurfacing (3-R) projects, the standards applicable to new construction and reconstruction will in 7608 SOLDANO v. UNITED STATES some instances not be attainable.” Finally, the 1984 Standards set forth the purpose of national park roads: [P]ark roads are designed with extreme care and sensitivity with respect to the terrain and environment through which they pass — they are laid lightly onto the land. Each segment of every park road should relate to the resource it traverses in a meaningful way and should constitute an enjoyable and informative experience in itself while providing the visitor the utmost in visual experience. . . . A park road should be fundamentally designed to maintain an overall continuing sense of intimacy with the countryside or area through which it passes. The purpose of park roads remains in sharp contrast to that of the Federal and State highway systems. Park roads are not intended to provide fast and convenient transportation; they are intended to enhance visitor experience while providing safe and efficient accommodation of park visitors and to serve essential management access needs. The placement and use of signs in Yosemite is similarly governed by Park Service policies, in particular those set forth in the National Park Service Sign Manual (“Sign Manual”). The Sign Manual delineates a number of factors that park managers are to consider in determining where to place signs. Managers should weigh such potentially competing ends as minimal intrusion, avoidance of unnecessary proliferation of signs and the safety of visitors in deciding whether to use a particular sign at a particular location. The Yosemite National Park Superintendent, Michael J. Tollefson, has averred that the Park Service’s overall road policy decisions made pursuant to the Standards involve balSOLDANO v. UNITED STATES 7609 ancing preservation of natural resources, visitor enjoyment and safety and the Park Service’s limited financial and human resources. The Superintendent has further stated that balancing such considerations requires the exercise of discretion, and that decisions on the Road’s design and construction, including the placement of scenic vistas and signs on it, are not governed by mandatory statutes, regulations or policies, but rather by noncompulsory policies as set forth in the 1984 Standards and the Sign Manual.