Glacier will build transit center near Apgar to ease traffic

Hungry Horse News

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK - Even with $50 million from the recently passed federal highway bill and another $13 million in additional state and federal funding, the Sun Road reconstruction schedule will still take some time to get fully up and running.

One of the first things on the docket will be a shuttle system for visitors. The shuttle is designed to ease traffic on the highway, particularly when construction is at full steam. A transit center would be built to accommodate the shuttle fleet and parking right at the T intersection near the West Entrance of the Park close to Apgar.

That will likely mean design changes to the west entrance to allow a smoother traffic flow into the Park, said Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt.

The Park will likely do an environmental assessment on changing the west entrance - likely adding another lane. The west entrance on a busy summer day can stack vehicle traffic nearly to Park headquarters as nearly every vehicle has to be manually checked for a pass.

A new entrance would likely include a bypass lane, which would, at the very least, allow shuttles quicker access to the Park.

The shuttle fleet itself is expected to be up and running by 2007, Vanderbilt said, and will likely start demonstration runs by 2006.

The Park is currently eyeing a fleet of yellow buses. The plan is to make them economical so folks will use the service, rather than private vehicles on the highway during reconstruction.

Private vehicle use won't be restricted in the peak summer use season, but the Park would like to see it reduced.

Currently the Park has two sections of highway under construction and both have delays up to 15 minutes. Add in another 15 minute delay for blacktop work and a driver could potentially see a 45 minute delay, though that usually doesn't happen.

The next stage in actual reconstruction will be work at Oberlin Bend and on the east side of Logan Pass in the area where the Big Drift usually forms.

Crews are continuing work at the Triple Arches and the West Side Tunnel.

More detailed documents and future plans have been posted at the Park's Web site at http://www.nps.gov/glac/sunroad/whatsup.htm