Highway bill should be good news for Glacier National Park's Sun Road

Congress passed a five-year highway bill last week that should be good news for Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road. While the bill doesn’t specifically have an earmark for the highway, as other bills have had in the past, it does set aside more than $1.7 billion for Park Service roads over the next five years, including $260 million in 2016.

That figure rises incrementally over time. By 2021, the Park Service is expected to get about $320 million. Overall, the National Park Service will receive an additional $220 million over the span of the five-year bill, about an 18 percent increase. Additionally, the new legislation authorizes up to $100 million annually for the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program designed to address exceptionally large repair projects, like the Sun Road.

The Sun Road has just one last leg to be completed — a section from Apgar to Lake McDonald Lodge hasn’t been done. Reconstruction started on the road in 2007 and has been ongoing ever since. To date about $140 million has been spent on the road, with another $20 million needed to finish the job, Glacier Park officials have said in the past.

Next summer, crews are expected to work on rebuilding the St. Mary entrance. The Apgar to Lake McDonald Lodge section will start in 2017.

The Sun Road isn’t the only road in need of repair. The Many Glacier Road has slumped so badly in places it’s like driving a roller coaster and the roadbed in some places is dirt or gravel— not exactly a pleasant drive to get into the Park’s showcase valley. The Park Service has just begun investigating on how to best fix that highway.

Montana Congressmen Ryan Zinke voted for the bill and an aide to his office said he’s pushing to get the Sun Road on the Park Service’s priorities list.

“I believe building a strong infrastructure is a fundamental role of government. Infrastructure is an investment that will prepare Montana for the future,” Zinke, a Republican, said. “The highway bill is one of those ‘must-do’ bills because it supports such a huge part of our state and national economies. If we’re going to strengthen Montana’s businesses, we need reliable roads and highways. These are the same roads that carry coal workers to the Spring Creek Mine in Decker; connect tourists from across the country to our many public lands; and allow ag producers to ship their resources across the state. I am glad to see our government finally step up and recognize this is not merely an expense, it’s a path forward for every single Montanan.”

Both Montana Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester also supported the bill.

The bill invests  $2.3 billion in state highways and increases highway funding in the state in the first year by 5.1 percent.

The bill does not raise the 18.4 cents per gallon federal gas tax. l