A monumental change for Sun Road

What does the future hold for the Going-to-the-Sun Road corridor that runs through the heart of Glacier National Park?

It might involve more parking — or less. It might be increased shuttles or A at all. It might mean drastically restricting motorists and hikers or leaving everything relatively unfettered as it is now.

In short, a lot of options are on the table.

This much is clear: Congestion on the beloved road is having a variety of impacts, ranging from trail damage to parking problems to human waste piling up at unusual locations.

To address the challenges of a road that at times is too popular, Glacier has embarked on a study to determine strategies for managing the corridor.

The initial rollout of options has five preliminary alternatives.

They include a “no action” alternative; increasing parking and holding the shuttle system at the status quo; increasing shuttles, restricting vehicles and encouraging bike use; and scrapping the shuttle system, heavily restricting vehicles and encouraging bike use.

The fifth alternative, however, is a relatively novel idea: planning for a range of possible future scenarios to allow for different management responses to the many variables driving visitor impacts.

Glacier Park officials are leaning toward the fifth option, but it’s very early in the planning process and Sun Road fans (there are many, many of them) are expected — and invited — to weigh in on what they do or don’t want to see happen on and along that sacred high-altitude highway.

The park is accepting public comments until June 5 and the draft plan is expected to be released this fall.

The park wants to hear from you. You might even have ideas that aren’t included in the five alternatives.

To view the newsletter containing the preliminary alternatives or to submit comments, go to https://parkplanning.nps.gov/glac.

Whatever happens with Sun Road could be the biggest management change in the heart of the park since Sun Road was constructed in the 1930s, so it’s important that the public weighs in.