Tag: road construction

As some of us noticed, especially those  who live within earshot of the North Fork Road, there has been a lot of heavy gravel hauling going on. According to Stephanie McElhinney, the Federal Highways Administration project engineer, it is related to this year’s scheduled construction work on the upper five miles of the North Fork Road:

The contractor was up in Whale Creek on Monday/Tuesday.  They hauled out 14 trucks with of material to take down to Cutting Edge’s facility.  My understanding from another FHWA staff member was there were other trucks up in the area as well doing culvert repair.

She went on to say that we’ll see more action starting in early June, the official start date for the project, which includes work on both the top five miles of the North Fork Road and on Glacier Drive between Polebridge and Glacier Park. There will also be a project newsletter posted within the next few weeks.

For overall project information, see: Federal Highways Administration 2024 construction plans for the North Fork Project

 

The Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) updated us at the Winter Interlocal on their plans to finish up what they call the “North Fork Project” this year.

Short version . . .

Construction will start on June 3 for both the upper five miles of the North Fork Road and for Glacier Drive between Polebridge and the Glacier Park entrance.

There will be traffic control with flaggers on both project sections, with delays limited to a maximum of 30 minutes. Beginning August 3, the North Fork segment will be closed to all but local traffic.

Basically, they are finishing up what should have been completed last year.

Read the full details here.

Monthly project updates will be posted here.

Glacier National Park recently posted their construction plans for this year. Most of this is of interest only to park visitors, but there is some North Fork impact . . .

Inside North Fork Road
Grading will be ongoing throughout the summer on the road to Bowman and Kintla lakes. Operations will not disrupt travel to these destinations. Major road work between Camas and Anaconda creek could impact hiker and biker travel.

Polebridge
Construction on Glacier Drive in Polebridge that began in 2023 will continue in 2024. Visitors to the Polebridge area should expect 30-minute delays before arriving at and departing from the park entrance. Visitors are encouraged not to drive all the way to the North Fork entrance unless they have a vehicle reservation to decrease traffic in the work zone. Information regarding the ongoing construction work will be posted at the Polebridge Mercantile. Updates for the construction project can be found on Montana Department of Transportation’s website.

See the full official press release here.

Today, November 11, we received a progress report on the road construction work in the North Fork from Chris Rossmiller, a Senior Technical Specialist with the Federal Highway Administration’s Kalispell Regional Project Office: Continue reading Road construction project status update for Nov 11th

As some of you may have noticed, the traffic notice sign at the Polebridge turn-off was updated late yesterday afternoon to show that construction activity will now extend into November rather than finishing up by late October.

This morning, October18, we received a progress report on the road construction work in the North Fork from Chris Rossmiller, a Senior Technical Specialist with the Federal Highway Administration’s Kalispell Regional Project Office. The entire report is below, with some minor editing and reformatting, but here’s the short version:

North end of North Fork Road — The contractor will work into the fall “as the weather allows.”They are 1.5-2 months behind schedule. The road surface refinishing will not be completed until next year. They will, however, ensure the road is usable prior to winter shutdown. This includes “shaping the road to drain, ensuring culverts are functional, ditches are cut to drain, erosion control measures installed, and hazards marked for plowing.”

Glacier Drive — Next week, the contractor plans to start using recycled asphalt millings to build up the stretch of Glacier Drive from the Merc property to Glacier Park. Weather permitting, they will complete the road work, but seeding work along the shoulders will be delayed until next spring.

Here’s the entire report: Continue reading Road construction project status update, Oct 18th