Rebuilding Park Road May Take 50 Years

Faced with avalanches, floods, falling rock and a short construction season, Glacier National Park officials say rebuilding the deteriorating Going-to-the-Sun Road will be a 50-year job, costing at least $100 million.

Bob Dunkley, the park’s chief planner, told a Kalispell Chamber of Commerce group Tuesday that just rebuilding the parking lot at the Logan Pass visitor center has taken two years, and that has given park officials appreciation for the monumental task ahead.

It was the first major, high-altitude project on the road in years, Dunkley said, and it wasn’t easy.

“It’s a problem we are just beginning to come to grips with,” he said.

The work can proceed only during the summer, when thousands of tourists also are trying to use the spectacular, twisting two-lane road carved into mountainsides over the Continental Divide. Traffic delays will be aggravating, and likely will continue for the full 50 years - and beyond.

This year, there will be only minor finishing work in the Logan Pass parking lot area. Camas Road, on the park’s west side, is scheduled to be rebuilt this summer and it will demand most of the park’s resources, Dunkley said.