The State - News from Aug. 16, 1988

A study will be conducted Labor Day weekend at Yosemite National Park in an effort to determine how many cars Yosemite Valley can hold without causing traffic or environmental problems. The National Park Service will count all motorists entering the park on Sept. 3 and log their destinations. Lisa Dapprich, a Park Service spokeswoman, said the aim is to determine how many cars can be accommodated before their numbers produce major congestion or overload the park’s resources. During the Memorial Day holiday in 1984, traffic came to a grinding halt because the eastern end of the valley was overwhelmed by cars. The traffic jam left motorists frustrated in a gridlock that lasted for hours. Dapprich said the study is in line with the Yosemite master plan, which calls for eventual elimination of private cars from the valley floor by implementing a mass transportation system.