FILE: This view of Silver Creek Canyon is taken from the byway, a mile or so east of Ebbetts Pass in Alpine County, Calif.

Caltrans is set to begin a four-year-long project to repair a vital, yet remote, mountain highway that traverses the Sierra Nevada.

On Aug. 3, Caltrans is set to begin construction on Highway 4 in Alpine County. The $36.4 million project will rehabilitate around 31.7 miles of Highway 4, including Ebbetts Pass — “one of the most intimate and untamed trans-Sierra routes,” according to the U.S. Forest Service. The construction will also pass through popular outdoor recreation destinations, including Bear Valley, Lake Alpine, Mosquito Lakes and Pacific Valley.

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Repairing the winding road over Ebbetts Pass, which tops out at 8,050 feet at the Pacific Grade Summit, is not straightforward. The road is mostly a two-lane highway, but at the higher elevations, it becomes steep and curvy and........

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