Snow Slows Progress on Glacier Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road

By Matthew Frank, 6-16-08

	Caption: Plowing Going-to-the-Sun Road at Rimrock. Click the image to watch a Glacier National Park video.

Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road won’t open for several weeks, officials say.

This year’s late spring snow—as much as two feet fell on the road’s alpine sections last week—has slowed plowing and progress on the road’s rehabilitation, but crews are taking the unpredictable weather in stride.

“The weather definitely drives the schedule for work,” said Amy Vanderbilt, outreach manager for the Going-to-the-Sun Road project. “Work occurs when weather allows.”

(Click here for a video from the park on the plowing process.)

Even when the snow stops, crews have to mind the 70-plus avalanche chutes that cross the road, said public affairs specialist Melissa Wilson. They’re also putting up removable guardrails and road signs, fixing potholes, and working on sidewalks, among other tasks.

But weather is not the main factor in the completion of the long-term Going-to-the-Sun Road rehabilitation that began in 2006. Crews can make up lost time in the fall when the weather is more favorable to construction work. Rather, it’s the increase in construction prices and the cost of gas that are more likely to delay it, Vanderbilt said.

Funding for the project will cover costs through 2009 and may extend into 2010, but beyond that, the next federal transportation bill will determine funding.

Although the Going-to-the-Sun Road is under construction and still in need of plowing, the park is open and visitors can get from the west side to the east side via Highway 2.

“It will be several more weeks before we can open the 50-mile stretch,” Wilson said.

Glacier’s current access includes 16 miles from the West Glacier entrance to Avalanche and 13 miles from St. Mary to Jackson Glacier Overlook.