Night Work Begins on Going-to-the-Sun Road, and Two Contracts are Awarded

Date: July 22, 2009
Contact: Wade Muehlhof, 406-888-7895

Visitors to Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) will experience work related delays at night starting Monday, July 27. Night work will begin for the recently awarded contract to rehabilitate the road between Big Bend and Logan Pass. From 6 AM to 10 PM, visitors will only experience short delays of no more than a half hour. Monday through Thursday, from 10 PM to 2 AM, and from 2:15 AM to 6 AM, the Sun Road from Big Bend to Logan Pass will be closed for construction, causing a four hour delay.

The construction project on 2.84 miles of the Sun Road between Big Bend and Logan Pass, known as Phase 8, was recently awarded to HK Contractors out of Idaho Falls for 14.9 million dollars. This is an ARRA, or Recovery Act funded project. The project includes work on the stone masonry guard-walls and retaining walls, compaction grouting used to stabilize the subgrade, drainage improvements, slope stabilization, turnout improvements, roadbed improvements and paving. The project is projected to be completed by October 31, 2011.

Another Going-to-the-Sun Road construction project was recently awarded. The November storm of 2006 caused an extensive slide directly off the shoulder of the Sun Road on McDonald Creek approximately 19 miles northeast of West Glacier. The repair work has been awarded to HK Contractors for 329 thousand dollars. Work will proceed this fall following the midnight September 20 vehicular traffic closure of the road between Avalanche and the west side of the Logan Pass area. During this period, work will also accelerate on the Big Bend to Logan Pass contract.

Current road status is available at: https://www.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm. Information is updated as conditions change. Visitors can also phone [phone] for general park information, including the specific location of hiker/bicycle closures. Road conditions for Glacier National Park are available by calling 511, the Montana Department of Transportation Traveler Information System. If a phone does not support 511, call 800-226-7623. Both numbers are toll-free. Select “Glacier Park Tourist Information” (option # 5) from the menu to hear Glacier’s road report.