Baucus measure would restore Sun Road funds

Senator wants Transportation bill amended to authorize $50-million appropriation

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., has introduced legislation aimed at restoring a $50-million appropriation for rebuilding Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The money had been authorized in 2005 by Congress in a six-year Transportation Bill, but Federal Highway Administration officials determined that the language in the bill was not specific enough to clear the appropriation.

That position prompted "extreme frustration" on the part of Baucus, who insists that it was Federal Highway Administration officials who vetted the original language in the Transportation Bill.

Baucus's legislative fix, introduced March 9, amends the Transportation bill with specific language to provide the funding.

"Basically, this bill makes it abundantly clear that Going-to-the-Sun Road is going to get $50 million," said Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser.

And it's a fix that is expected to advance rapidly through Congress, Kaiser said.

"Given that this really is just a clerical correction and Congress already approved $50 million … we don't anticipate much, if any, opposition," he said. "This is going to start as a stand-alone bill, but Max is going to look for any and every option to get it passed as soon as possible."

Baucus expressed his frustration about the funding fiasco in a recent letter to Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta.

"I worked in conjunction with the (Federal Highway Administration) to draft this language to ensure that the Going-to-the Sun Highway project would not only receive $50 million over the next five years, but also that the project would be 100 percent federally funded," Baucus says in the letter. "Planning for the Going-to-the-Sun Highway reconstruction has been under way for nearly 10 years, and the rehabilitation of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway will take approximately 10 years and more than $140 million. The funding that was included in the Highway Bill is critical to see that this project is completed satisfactorily and on time."

After learning about the lost funding, park officials figured that the project's timeline, officially estimated from six to eight years, would be prolonged. But start-up funding is in place, so the project is proceeding.

This summer, a new transit center will be built in the Apgar area to accommodate an expanded transportation system that is intended to offset the negative impacts of a long-term construction project.

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