North Fork Road could see upgrades in '18

A $1.6 million federal grant proposal to improve the North Fork Road from Polebridge to the Canadian border will likely be submitted by April 4, Flathead National Forest officials said last week.

In a presentation to the county commissioners, forest staff officer Gary Danczyk said that if the grant is awarded, the project likely would not begin until 2018 or 2019.

Officials from the U.S. Border Patrol and Glacier National Park, which are also included in the application, also spoke in support of the grant proposal.

The $1.9 million project would tap grant money from the Federal Lands Access Program plus $100,000 from the Border Patrol, $126,000 worth of aggregate from the U.S. Forest Service and a $32,525 commitment from the county.

A 19-mile stretch of the North Fork Road would get $1.5 million in improvements, with additional improvements on the Polebridge Loop Road and Glacier Drive up to the bridge that crosses the North Fork of the Flathead River into the park.

“We understand that you don’t have money falling off the trees any more than we do, so it’s a good way for us to work together on common goals,” Flathead Forest Supervisor Chip Weber said, adding that feedback from North Fork residents has been universally positive.

The work would include aggregate resurfacing through most of the project area, along with earthwork, slope stabilization, drainage improvements and road widening in some stretches.

The northernmost five miles of the road would be completely rebuilt, with substantial reconstruction east of Polebridge as well.

Glacier Superintendent Jeff Mow supported the project and noted the increased visitor use — rising 30 percent last year — at the park’s Polebridge entrance.

Speaking for the Border Patrol, Whitefish station patrol agent Kip Stratton said the road improvements would help his officers defend the 31-mile stretch of border for which they are responsible.

“It does me no good to put resources out there to detect entries, to get reports from folks about illegal entries or suspicious activities in these remote areas if we can’t get there,” he said. “That road is rough, and it really impacts my ability to put resources where I need them.”

The proposal is still in the final drafting stages and will require the signatures of the county, park, forest and Border Patrol before it is submitted to the Forest Service, which administers the grant program.