The Going-to-the-Sun Road is a global icon, attracting millions of visitors to Glacier National Park each year and consistently garnering praise for its awe-inspiring views and connection to pristine recreation opportunities.
But with the growing popularity comes a significant dilemma. Once word spreads that the Sun Road is fully open in summer, visitors flood the park, clogging the narrow two-lane corridor with vehicles and filling the surrounding trails with hikers.
Amid this increased visitation and congestion along the main thoroughfare, park officials are proposing several changes that could impact how visitors travel throughout Glacier.
The list of options includes expanded parking, a larger fleet of free shuttles, an added emphasis on biking opportunities and controlled vehicle entry through a reservation system.
The National Park Service on May 1 published the preliminary alternatives of the Going-to-the-Sun Corridor Management Plan. A year after collecting initial public comments about possible management strategies for the busy western corridor of the park, the agency has crafted five proposed alternatives.
The public is encouraged to comment on the alternatives through June 5.
Any proposed changes to the valley’s beloved national park are sure to garner criticism, particularly if it involves restricting access or altering the natural landscape.
But park officials claim that something needs to be done to prevent damages to resources, mitigate safety issues and relieve congestion that could hamper the national park experience. Other national parks, such as Yosemite, have implemented strategies to similarly address overcrowding.
Glacier Park set a record in 2014 with 2.3 million visitors. The annual total was a 6.7 percent increase over 2013 and marked the sixth time in the last eight years that visitation surpassed 2 million people.
The year-end totals showed a vast majority of people — 1.07 million —entered the park through the West Entrance, a 6.6 percent increase over 2013.
The number of hikers has significantly increased on some of the popular trails in the Sun Road corridor by as much as 250 percent since 1988, according to the park service.
Popular spots, such as the Avalanche Creek area and Logan Pass, continue to experience serious congestion and a lack of parking. This has resulted in safety concerns and resource impacts, according to the agency.
Through its new Sun Road corridor plan, the park service is proposing to reorganize transportation and reduce traffic congestion in the bustling western corridor.
One of the primary focuses of the plan is the shuttle system, which was launched in 2007 during rehabilitation work along the Sun Road. The free shuttles were intended to reduce vehicle congestion at parking areas and pullouts, but instead there are more visitors gaining access to the park’s trails while vehicle traffic remains beyond capacity, the agency says.
Jeff Mow, superintendent of Glacier Park, said there are not any proposals to change the operation of the Red Buses or Sun Tours.
The first preliminary alternative proposes taking no action throughout the entire corridor.
The second option seeks to build additional parking and infrastructure and maintain the shuttles to accommodate increased visitation.
This alternative would add parking at busy sites along the road, including at Avalanche. The shuttle services would begin earlier in the spring and the daily hours of operation would be increased to accommodate more passengers.
Also, to protect and limit natural resource damage from increased use on trails, the agency would “widen, harden and/or install handrails on trails, add new trails, add restroom facilities to popular backcountry locations including Hidden Lake Overlook, Preston Park and Haystack Butte,” according to the park service’s proposal.
The third alternative would increase the number of shuttles and their hours of daily operation and length of season.
It would also manage the number of vehicles in the Sun Road corridor. Vehicle entry would be controlled by “timed entries or a reservation system,” the plan states, to create a “positive park experience” without parking delays and congestion. Overnight parking would also be prohibited and time limits would be implemented at certain parking locations.
Also, some trails would require day hike permits during peak season.
The third alternative would also seek to increase biking opportunities by developing specific bike trails and establishing days that only bikes are allowed on the Sun Road.
This alternative would also widen and harden trails and possibly built handrails to protect natural resources, as well as adding restrooms to popular backcountry sites.
The west and east side entrances would also be redesigned.
Under the fourth alternative, the shuttle system would be discontinued. Vehicle entry would be managed through a timed entry or reservation system. This proposal also seeks to increase bike opportunities. The west and east side entrances would also be redesigned.
The fifth and final alternative “offers a flexible decision-framework for how to respond to future events, trends, risks and threats that are uncertain or unknown,” the plan states. This proposal would establish triggers that would determine when the agency should respond with an action. Preliminary triggers could include visitation levels, number of vehicles traveling through the Sun Road entrance stations and trail-use levels.
This proposal would respond by using “least restrictive actions first,” according to the plan. The triggers could lead to expanding the shuttle system with additional shuttles, hours of operation and stop locations. Other actions could be prohibiting over-length vehicle travel past Apgar Village and Rising Sun and converting one loop at Avalanche Campground to parking. It could also prohibit overnight parking, implement parking time limits and/or require parking permits.
There are several proposals that are common in all of the alternatives, including monitoring and managing noise levels and enhancing hiker and biker opportunities outside of the peak summer season.
After collecting public comment through June 5, the park service will develop a draft environmental impact statement and release that plan for public comment in the fall. A record of decision could be issued in early 2017.
The park service launched the multi-year planning effort in 2013 to address management of visitor use and experience, congestion, protection of natural and cultural resources within the corridor, and long-term financial sustainability of the park’s shuttle system.
The park received 156 comments during the initial scoping period in the spring of 2014. An additional 283 comments were gathered at 10 open houses held in communities surrounding Glacier.
Most of the comments centered on the shuttle system, and most were generally supportive, according to park officials.
Mow said commenters frequently indicated that they enjoyed taking the shuttle and hoped the park would continue the service while finding a way to make it financially sustainable in the long term. Other commenters offered proposals about appropriate road and trail use and thoughts about how to better protect the park’s natural and cultural resources. Many comments echoed frustration over the lack of parking at Logan Pass and other popular spots around the park.