Gateway trail project gets county funding
The Gateway to Glacier Trail planned along U.S. 2 from Coram to West Glacier will get Flathead County’s entire allocation of federal trails money.
The trail will be dedicated to the late Jim Dupont.
Dupont, who lived in West Glacier, served as Flathead County sheriff for 16 years and was in his first term as a county commissioner when he died in March.
The county commissioners on Tuesday unanimously voted to award the nonprofit Gateway to Glacier Trail organization $845,811 in Community Transportation Enhancement Program money to build 6.8 miles of trails.
Gateway to Glacier Trail beat out three other contenders for the CTEP money: The Sam Bibler Commemorative Trails Project North Willow Glen Drive Trail, the Stillwater River Trail at Flathead Valley Community College and the Flathead County Fairgrounds enhancement plan.
“The West Glacier project stood out heads and shoulders above the others,” county Parks Director Jed Fisher told the commissioners, relaying the Park Board’s recommendation. “It’s the picture-perfect project and there has been huge involvement from the Canyon folks.”
Fisher also noted how important the Gateway to Glacier Trail was to Dupont, and that the trail group plans to dedicate the trail to Dupont.
“It will go right in front of Jim’s house,” Fisher added.
The trail will connect Coram to West Glacier, paralleling U.S. 2. A trail section between Coram and Hungry Horse already is in place. The estimated cost of the Coram-to-West Glacier segment is $871,745. Gateway to Glacier is required to raise a 13.42 percent local match of about $117,000 and had raised close to $59,000 when the application was submitted Oct. 1.
The Gateway to Glacier Trail group is working with the state Department of Transportation on a second segment that eventually would run from Bad Rock Canyon, across the South Fork of the Flathead River into Hungry Horse when the state rebuilds the highway. Funding for that segment is yet to be determined.
Val Parsons, chairwoman of Gateway to Glacier Trail, was ecstatic with the commissioners’ decision. She and other volunteers have been working on the trail project extensively for the past couple of years. Her efforts to establish safe trails for pedestrians and bicyclists reach back two decades.
The county’s 2012 CTEP allocation of $341,599 brought the balance from the federal reimbursement program to $950,349. After subtracting an 11 percent administration fee for the Montana Department of Transportation, it left $845,811 to award.
Fisher said the Gateway to Glacier Trail, averaging $128,000 per mile, clearly was the county’s best “bang for the buck.”
This is the last allocation Flathead County will make through the federal reimbursement program. From here on, the distribution of federal money will be called the Transportation Alternatives Program and local government entities will have to vie for the money on a competitive basis.
Since 1992 Flathead County has received more than $4.7 million in CTEP funding for trails and other transportation-related enhancements.
The commissioners agreed the Gateway to Glacier Trail deserved the funding.
Commissioner Cal Scott said public safety is paramount with him and he sees the Coram-to-West Glacier trail as a huge improvement for people wanting to walk or bike along the highway.
Commissioner Dale Lauman said dedicating the trail to former Commissioner Dupont “is a great idea.”
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.