County postpones RV Park vote

Flathead County Commissioners Wednesday morning postponed a vote on an RV Park proposed by Glacier Park Inc. off River Bend drive in West Glacier until Friday.

Commissioners made their decision after Bob Abelin, the traffic engineer for GPI, was late to the meeting and missed public questions about his traffic study. Meanwhile, the commissioners had another traffic study submitted that refuted some of Abelin’s initial work.

Glacier Park Inc. wants to develop 102 recreational vehicle spaces and 25 rental cabins on a 178-acre forested tract of land just west of the main village site. The RV Park will have 63 acres of open space, 67 acres of residential area, and 47 acres for the campground. The actual developed land area is about 23 acres.

The park would also have its own water wells. A green space buffer would be around the park, and land that is adjacent to the Middle Fork of the Flathead River would remain undeveloped. GPI has plans to provide a shuttle service for customers, and will build a public path through the property so people can walk to West Glacier and Glacier National Park.

The planning board last month voted to send the project to the commissioners on a 5-3 vote.

The big concern by the public then was traffic. Resident after resident stood up and questioned the GPI’s traffic study, which was done by Bob Abelin of Abelin Traffic Services of Helena.

Abelin’s study indicated that the traffic at the intersection of River Bend Drive and the Going-to-the-Sun Road on busy days rated a “D” which meant that a motorist, on average, had to wait about 30 seconds to get onto the Sun Road.

But residents last month disputed that, saying wait times were often 5 or 10 minutes in summer months. They also suggested that because Abelin’s data was from the much slower month of October, the numbers don’t represent peak season traffic.

Now there is a new traffic study for commissioners to consider.

Residents have also raised concerns about issues like wildlife and sanitation.

The commissioners will take the matter back up at 9 a.m. Friday. The public is welcome.