Sun Rd. money cleared

Glacier National Park Superintendent Mick Holm says he's confident that funding approved Friday by Congress will jump-start the Going-to-the-Sun Road reconstruction, and it should be enough "to complete that project in its entirety as we proposed it."

Holm said Montana Sen. Max Baucus was successful in inserting language into the federal government's six-year transportation bill that will provide a direct appropriation of $50 million for the long-planned Sun Road project.

That falls far short of the project's total price tag, which is in the range of $140 million to $170 million. But Holm explained from where he expects the rest of the money to come.

Also in the bill is funding for the National Park Service's road program. During the past six years, the program has received about $160 million annually, but that appropriation was increased substantially for the next six years.

"As near as we can find out, it's about $210 million per year now, which is a $50-million increase," he said. "That money is spread throughout the entire national-park system."

But Holm said he has every reason to think that Glacier will receive annual appropriations for Sun Road reconstruction, a project that is expected to begin during 2007 and take six to eight years to complete.

"It's somewhat premature, but I'm really optimistic that we will be able to get on with the job of getting that road fixed," Holm said.

"There certainly is a commitment from the National Park Service and there is certainly a commitment from our congressional delegation," he said. "Everybody wants to get that project going, and we want to get it finished."

Structural problems along the alpine stretch of Sun Road became an issue during the mid-1990s, when a severe rain storm washed out a big chunk of Sun Road just below the west-side tunnel. Subsequent inspections revealed major problems with the stability of retaining walls and the rock beneath the road in certain places. Since Sun Road was opened to the public during 1935, the alpine stretch had been repaired here and there, but never rebuilt. When park officials started pursuing plans for reconstruction, it became clear that a major construction project on Sun Road likely would affect park visitation and the surrounding communities that depend on summer tourist traffic.

During 1999, a citizens advisory council was appointed to address those issues and provide recommendations for pursuing a reconstruction project. Since then, reconstruction work has been completed in isolated segments along the alpine stretch of Sun Road.

Holm said the $50-million infusion will allow the park to proceed with plans to offset visitor effects when construction work gets under way.

Specifically, the park's plan calls for enhanced public transportation within the park to provide continued access along Sun Road with hopefully less traffic when construction begins.

Specifically, park officials have been planning for development of "transit centers" at Apgar and St. Mary, along with expanded parking, to serve as hubs for as many as 14 vehicles that would provide service with regular stops along Sun Road.

To make the expanded service user-friendly, park officials have been studying information systems that would provide "real time" information at the transit centers and electronic kiosks that would be along Sun Road.

The enhanced system is expected to complement existing transportation services provided by the fleet of 32 historic red buses and the Native American tours provided by Sun Tours. Those tours come with interpretive guides, whereas the park's shuttle system would not.

"We've been working the last year-and-a-half on the mitigation side of this," Holm said.

Holm said officials hope to get contracts awarded and have the new transit centers and transportation system in place by summer 2007.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.