Bike path may see a modified route to West Glacier

The extension of a bike path from Coram to West Glacier should happen this summer, but the exact route likely won’t be determined until the bids come in, said Glacier to Gateway Trail president Sarah Dakin.

The nonprofit trail group has been holding fundraisers for years to come up with the money to meet the matching county grant portion to build seven more miles of the bike path.

But now construction costs have risen and the path might have to utilize portions of Old Highway 2 to complete the route to West Glacier, Dakin said last week. The initial idea was a dedicated bike path on the west side of U.S. Highway 2 from Coram to West Glacier. That path will tie in with an existing bike path that runs along the highway from Hungry Horse to Coram.

In addition, there’s federal funding to extend the bike path from Columbia Falls to the House of Mystery area, though the path isn’t entirely a dedicated path — it will use the road shoulder and sidewalks will be widened and improved in some places.

The group is also negotiating with the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. for a license agreement that could allow for a bike path on CFAC property along the east side of the river. Those talks are ongoing and not finalized, Dakin noted.

The last section of the path will eventually run through the two miles of the Bad Rock Canyon, but that’s several years away, when U.S. Highway 2 is reconstructed.