Columbia Falls to Columbia Heights bike path on tap this summer
A new bike path from the Highway 2 bridge to Columbia Heights will get underway this summer.
A new separate bike and pedestrian path is planned from the U.S. Highway 2 bridge east of Columbia Falls to Columbia Heights.
Crews from Montana Department of Transportation were surveying the route recently.
The path is funded through the Federal Lands Access Program. It is set to go to out to bid later in May with an award date on June 18. Work should begin in August, Bob Vosen MDT district administrator said recently.
The project has been planned for years.
The initial plans were to have the bike path go to the House of Mystery, just outside the Bad Rock Canyon, but there wasn’t enough funding, Vosen said.
The long-range plan is to have a bike path that runs from Columbia Falls to West Glacier.
Most of it has been built over the years, thanks to philanthropic efforts of the Gateway to Glacier Trail group, which partnered with the state, county and federal government on the section from Hungry Horse to West Glacier.