Sun Road work underway

Repair work recently began on three segments of the rock guard wall along Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park between Triple Arches and Oberlin Bend.

Motorists and park visitors planning on driving the Sun Road should plan on 15-minute delays and sections of one-lane traffic control during daylight hours and traffic control lights at night.

Both lanes of traffic will be open over Labor Day weekend, from Sept. 3 through Sept. 5. After the holiday weekend, construction will resume and sections of the road will return to one-lane status. The construction will then continue until determined otherwise by winter weather.

Work is also planned at the St. Mary entrance as crews will start rebuilding the entrance stations. Traffic will be re-routed through the entrance station parking lot. The section of roadway will be closed beginning Sept. 19 until May 26 of next year. During the construction period when the Sun Road is open to travel, fee collections will be administered in the visitor center.

Starting on Oct. 17, the east side of the Sun Road will be closed to vehicular traffic beginning at the 1.5 mile gate. Hikers and bikers can access the east side of the road by using the newly reconstructed pathway near the St. Mary Visitor Center. The area will remain closed to vehicle traffic until May 26.

The south portion of the Trail-of-the-Cedars between the Sun Road and the trailhead to Avalanche Lake will be closed on Sept. 6 in order to begin work on a footbridge over Avalanche Creek. The boardwalk portion of the trail leading to the Avalanche Lake trailhead will remain open. Flaggers will be on site to accommodate campground traffic.

The roadway into the campground will be closed to all traffic except for administrative and construction personnel. A segment of the boardwalk will be removed in order to access construction operations, so this portion of the Trail-of-the-Cedars will be closed during construction.