(October 8, 2025, about noon) Via Richard Hildner…
Good News! This just in from Kevin Ulrichsen who reports that the contractor working on the Moose Creek Road is just finishing up the last culvert today (as I type) and he will be working on the dips and grading next. Dips and grading should not cause any delays.
(September 26) Here’s the latest information on the construction work scheduled for Red Meadow and Moose Creek roads from Rob Davies, Hungry Horse-Glacier View District Ranger…
I just talked to the Forest Service COR, Cliff Lewis.
The contractor is still working on the 1677 cut-across road towards Red Meadow Road. He is hoping to finish the 1677 Rd this week and then start on the Red Meadow Road on Monday. The Road work on Red Meadow will have delays and is expected to last 2 weeks.
So, at this point, Moose Creek Rd work is expected to start in 2 weeks — approximately Oct 13th.
Once the Moose Cr Road work and culvert replacement gets started, the contractor, and myself, will do our best to communicate what’s going on. There will be an option for emergencies.
If a resident needs to get through for medical reasons or other emergencies they could use the newly refurbished 1677 and cut-across to Red Meadow… then out to the North Fork.
The contractor is Erin Gyman of AGS Inc. He is willing to communicate directly with land owners once he begins work on Moose Cr. Rd.
(August 26) Here’s the latest information on the construction work scheduled for Red Meadow and Moose Creek roads from Rob Davies, Hungry Horse-Glacier View District Ranger…
I do not have a lot of details, contractors sometimes are not very precise with the timing of their work, but this is what I know.
There are two separate contracts on Red Meadow Rd and Moose Cr.
One contract is operating now, brushing 2 side roads off the Red Meadow Road. The main Red Meadow will have a brush-cutter working both side of the road starting this Friday 8/29.
The other contractor will be installing 5 culverts on Red Meadow and one at the end of Moose Cr Road. That contractor had to shift priorities based on material delivery and went to complete another project. The latest info we have is this: He was planning on mobilizing this week and starting work next Tuesday, Sept 2nd after the long weekend.
I’ll share more details if and when I receive updates.
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.
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.
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
Here’s the web page for our local road construction project status. It includes some photos and links to a short newsletter that seems to come out about every four weeks:
North Fork of the Flathead River; Blankenship and Belton Stage Rd. Resurfacing.
An update taken from the September 1 project newsletter . . .
On Glacier Drive near Polebridge, clearing, and grubbing activities are complete. Culvert installation is also complete. Once the crew has completed placement of millings on Blankenship & Belton Stage Roads, they will mobilize to Glacier Drive and start placing millings before beginning surface work near Polebridge Mercantile.
On North Fork Road, the contractor’s plan is to start 6-7 day work weeks until project completion. Culvert installation, survey, clearing, and grubbing activities are ongoing.The contractor is scheduled to mobilize the crushing operation and begin processing surface aggregates at Whale Creek Pit in the next week.
For more details, see:
Road construction timing and restrictions revealed at Interlocal
The long-planned work on the upper five miles of the North Fork Road and on the segment of Glacier Drive between the Polebridge Mercantile and the Glacier Park entrance station is actually in progress this year. As expected, it is causing significant disruptions.
As mentioned in an earlier article on the NFLA website, the upper five miles of the North Fork Road was closed as of today, August 7th, to all but essential traffic, with likely delays of up to half an hour. If you are not a resident or someone with a really good reason to be up there, you won’t be allowed through. Also, the contractor will be running a weekend shift for the next two weekends, so the travel delays will be in effect for the next 14 days straight. If everything goes more or less as planned, this project will wrap up by mid-October.