The Mariposa County Board of Supervisors got a brief update on the permanent fix for the Ferguson Rockslide at its Tuesday meeting. Unfortunately, not much has changed in terms of the timeline.

Christine Cox-Kovacevich of Caltrans said she was in Mariposa to provide a little good news. She said her department is currently in the final review stage of the alternatives and has tentatively set public hearings on Aug. 25 and 26. She said some of the alternatives had been “refined” and Caltrans still hopes to begin construction on the selected choice in summer of 2013.

The project is not expected to be complete until 2016, more than 10 years after Ferguson Ridge came tumbling down, burying Highway 140 in the Merced River Canyon.

Supervisor Jim Allen asked Cox-Kovacevich if there was anything the board could do to expedite the process. She said no. “It really is the process,” she said of the protacted timeline. “We do not want to have any surprises.”

The Caltrans official did say that while the alternatives include a “no-build” option that would leave the river canyon road as it is now, that really isn’t a possibility. “That option is there to say ‘this is what would occur if you didn’t build the project,’” she said.

The Aug. 25 hearing will be held in Mariposa. The Aug. 26 date is set for El Portal. Caltrans will notify the public when the dates approach.