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Road Crews Are Clearing Final Snow Drifts In Glacier National Park

A snow blower clears off the final snow drifts on the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT.
Nicky Ouellet
A snow blower clears off the final snow drifts on the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT.

Plowing crews in Glacier National Parkare clearing the final snow drifts from the park’s iconic main road, with hopes to open it entirely within the next few weeks. Though most of Going to the Sun Road is now open to bikers and hikers, one section just east of the Continental Divide remains buried under 15 feet of snow. 

"Typically the road opens sometime in June or July. We've still got a bit of work to do," Lauren Alley, a spokesperson for the Park, says.

Road crew worker installs guard rail on the iconic Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT.
Credit Nicky Ouellet
/
Yellowstone Public Radio
Road crew worker installs guard rail on the iconic Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park, MT.

Today a backhoe shovels snow over the precipitous edge of the road, while a giant snow blower clears drifts from the parking lot at Logan Pass and crews install guardrails along the road at lower elevations. Going To The Sun Road is the only road that travels through the Park. Alley calls the 100-year-old artery a feat of engineering.

"That it is here today and nearly 3 million people are using the road every year is pretty incredible," says Alley.

Glacier has seen record-breaking visitation levels for the past three years, and that’s led to serious traffic and parking congestion along Going To The Sun Road. The Park is draftinga corridor management planto develop strategies to address the congestion, which will likely be released later this year.

Watch a video of the Going to the Sun Road from inside a snow plow on MTPR's Facebook page. 

Visit Glacier National Park's website to find info about Going To The Sun Road, including plowing and road status updates.  

You can also read the Going to the Sun Road Corridor Management Plan on the National Parks Service Website.

Nicky is MTPR's Flathead-area reporter.
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