Rain Takes Toll On Glacier Park Roads

Both lanes in a section of the park’s enormously popular Goingto-the-Sun Road may have to be excavated to fix damage caused by heavy rain during the past week, the park superintendent said.

David Mihalic said it is unlikely the road will open by July, but he did not predict how long repairs will take. Fixing storm-damaged roads will cost millions of dollars, he said.

During the storms, a 60-foot section of the westbound lane of the Going-to-the-Sun Road disappeared down the steep slope opposite Heavens Peak. An avalanche of water, debris and rock pummeled the road, soil beneath the pavement was saturated and sections of a drainage culvert were scattered about.

Elsewhere on the road, runoff sent tons of rock and debris cascading onto asphalt.

Engineers from the Federal Highway Administration have been assessing the damage.

Mihalic said they reported both lanes of the Going-to-the-Sun Road near the West Side Tunnel probably will have to be closed while workers excavate the damaged section.

A contractor could begin work as early as Tuesday, said Mihalic, who expects to seek emergency money from the Department of the Interior.

On the east side of the park, Many Glacier Road opened to one lane of traffic on Saturday. The St. Mary entrance to the park remained closed because of storm damage, but rangers hoped to open the entrance today.

Montana counties where flood warnings remained in effect on Saturday included Glacier, Madison, Jefferson and Broadwater. Flood watches were canceled in Hill, Rosebud, Prairie, Powder River, Custer, Dawson and Richland counties.