Highway bill could have good news for Sun Road

Congress recently passed a new two-year highway bill that could bring good news to Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The bill doesn’t specifically earmark mark for the Sun Road, but it does provide $480 million for roads within the National Park Service. The bill also favors “high-use federal recreational sites or federal economic generators.”

When the Sun Road is clear of snow and open to motor vehicles, it attracts about $1 million a day in tourist money to the local economy. All three members of Montana’s congressional delegation voted in favor of the highway bill.

Glacier Park officials recently announced they expect the alpine section of the road to be completed by the end of the construction season this year.

But work remains to be completed, including sections on the east side from Siyeh Bend to St. Mary and on the west side from West Glacier to Avalanche Creek. The Park estimates it will cost about $40 million to finish the work, which they hope will be completed by 2016.

To date, Glacier Park has spent about $130 million on the Sun Road reconstruction. Work began in earnest in 2004, and Sen. Max Baucus earmarked $50 million toward the reconstruction in 2005 in the last highway bill. The reconstruction project also received more than $27 million in federal stimulus funding in 2009.

The new highway bill provides about $400 million a year for highway projects in the state, Baucus’ office said.

The bill, which Congress passed just before the July 4 break, contains some compromises. Originally the legislation called for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline — an oil pipeline that would run from Alberta to Gulf Coast.

Montana’s congressional delegation supports the pipeline because of the jobs it will bring to the state. Opponents claim the pipeline needs a more thorough environmental review. The pipeline provision was stripped from the bill.