Plows churning away in final stretches of road job
<p>An equipment operator walks back to a rotary plow Wednesday morning on Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.</p>
Media members got a view from the top Wednesday watching snowplows advance toward Logan Pass on Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road.
Rotary plows were working at Oberlin Bend, just below the pass, while “pioneering” equipment was used to cut an initial approach to the pass.
Another plow crew is working about a mile east of the pass in the Lunch Creek area.
Although they are close to the pass, there are considerable challenges ahead, said Denise Germann, the park’s public affairs specialist.
Work has yet to start on the Big Drift, an immense wall of snow located just east of the pass.
About 400 removable guard rails are being installed on lower portions of the road. The Logan Pass parking lot and the visitor center need to be prepared, and there is always a large amount of debris that must be cleared from the road.
“We saw lots of debris today,” Germann said. “This kind of weather, with lots of rain and sunshine, brings a lot of debris down.”
Contractually, the park cannot open the road to vehicle traffic over Logan Pass until after June 21.
That allows for the park’s construction contractor to operate on both traffic lanes simultaneously.
The contractor has two work zones this year — one from Avalanche to Logan Creek and the other from Siyeh Bend to Rising Sun.
Hiker and bikers cannot travel beyond the vehicle closure at Avalanche today and Friday due to construction activity. However, hiker-biker access is unrestricted over the weekend.
On the east side, hikers and bikers can travel from the closure at Jackson Glacier Overlook to Siyeh Bend.