Sun Road repair work starts: Expect delays

Even during the height of summer, the impacts of wintertime avalanches that plague Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road will be felt by motorists traveling the busy scenic thoroughfare for the remainder of the summer.

Crews on Monday began repairing guard walls along several high-elevation, cliffside portions of the road west of Logan Pass. They are fixing the damage caused by snowslides during the past two winters.

Park spokesman Tim Rains said the construction will consist of replacing three segments of stone-wall masonry that were swept away by avalanches between mile marker 30 and Oberlin Bend.

Daytime flaggers and night-time traffic signals will be in place to guide traffic through the one-lane sections of Sun Road.

While Rains said park officials expect the delays to add only 15 minutes to the travel times of motorists, the project comes in the middle of a busy season filled with record-breaking crowds.

“We’re definitely starting to see the stress of the season,” he said. “This is a busy time of year, lots of people are visiting, but be patient with your fellow visitors and enjoy the park.”

With sunny, mild summer weather, none of the wildfires and smoke that plagued the park in 2015 and a widely advertised centennial celebration for the National Park Service, Glacier is well on pace to set another visitation record this year.

The last two months were the busiest June and July the park has ever experienced.

Rains expects the west-side construction work will continue into fall, interrupted only by the Labor Day weekend next month.

“They are hoping to wrap up before the snow flies,” he said. “One of the reasons we’re starting so early is we’re watching the weather and want to make sure we can get this done before winter starts.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.