Canyon bike path group signs $754,757 contract
Gateway to Glacier Trail, the nonprofit group dedicated to getting a bicycle and pedestrian path built from Bad Rock Canyon to West Glacier, announced a major milestone last week.
The group signed a contract with Flathead County on Feb. 4 for $754,757 in federal Community Enhancement Transportation Program funding needed to pay for construction of a 6.8-mile long path from Coram to West Glacier.
“This means the ball is rolling,” G2GT executive director Val Parsons said. “We’re moving our meetings to Columbia Falls with a mission to connect Columbia Falls to Bad Rock Canyon.”
The Coram to West Glacier contract marks the last of the CTEP money partitioned out to cities, towns and counties for bike path construction. Starting this year, communities in Montana will face competitive bidding for the federal grant money.
“We had to raise a 13.42 percent match, which totaled $116,988, to be awarded the county CTEP money,” Parsons said. “We met that requirement and also deposited an additional $58,000 to help with future trail maintenance. The county will also donate $58,000 for future maintenance.”
G2GT hosted 20 fundraising events over the past four years to raise the match, Parsons said, including Pints For Paths, Pedals For Paths, brewfests, movie nights, bake sales and soup nights.
Major donors included BNSF Railway, Plum Creek Timber and the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, with $10,000 each, and Hungry Horse Liquor, Heavens Peak Lodge, the Cinnabar Foundation and Freedom Bank, with $5,000 or more each.
“We saw a huge amount of support by the four communities in the Canyon — Hungry Horse, Martin City, Coram and West Glacier,” Parsons said. “They really bonded together for this.”
Parsons said she expects the county will advertise for bids for engineering services for the Coram to West Glacier bike path sometime this spring, but construction won’t likely start until 2015. The path will be constructed in the broad shoulder along U.S. 2, which she says might take 1 1/2 months to complete.
“If they start in spring of 2015, it could be ready for use by summer 2015,” she said.
Next up is building a path linking Columbia Falls to the Canyon. The Montana Department of Transportation is expected to construct a separated bike path connecting Hungry Horse with the fishing access site next to the House Of Mystery when it rebuilds U.S. 2 and installs a new bridge over the South Fork of the Flathead River.
A path linking the U.S. 2 bridge over the Flathead River near Columbia Falls with the fishing access site at the House of Mystery is on Flathead County’s bike path master plan, Parsons said. Once completed, a safe path for bikers and hikers would link Columbia Falls to West Glacier — the entrance to Glacier National Park.
As part of its move to Columbia Falls, G2GT will now hold its monthly meetings in the basement of Freedom Bank on the first Monday of each month starting at 6 p.m.
Parsons says about a dozen people are actively involved in G2GT, including seven from Columbia Falls. The group is hoping for more interested people from the Columbia Falls area to join the volunteer group.
Fundraising will also move to Columbia Falls. The Montana Coffee Traders cafe here will host a donation soup night for G2GT on Friday, Feb. 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. with 20 different types of soup as well as homemade cookies and coffee.
Whitefish artist Colt Idol will be on hand to show giclées of his painting “Discover Freedom.” The 36-by-24-inch numbered prints of a bald eagle soaring over beargrass in Glacier Park are available for $350, with $100 going to the G2GT bike path project.
For more information, visit online at www.gatewaytoglaciertrail.com or www.facebook.com/GatewayToGlacierTrail.