Update: June 6, 3:25 p.m.
A portion of State Park Road in Whitefish will be closed Wednesday so that BNSF Railway can make emergency repairs to a crossing.
The railroad crossing on the west side of Whitefish will be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to City Manager Adam Hammatt. The city manager said the railroad informed the city early Tuesday that the repairs had to be made. Because of the closure, a small portion of the city and Whitefish Lake State Park will be cut off from the rest of the community Wednesday.
Reader boards were being put in place on Tuesday to inform local residents of the closure. Vehicles are also going to be staged on either side of the road crossing to help shuttle residents. Equipment and materials were also being staged on site just in case the railroad needs to build an emergency access across the tracks.
BNSF spokesperson Ross Lane said that last week a defective rail was discovered near the state park crossing and that it will be replaced on Wednesday. A speed restriction was put in place at the crossing to ensure that trains can cross the section of rail safely until it can be fixed.
“We hope to have the work completed with the least amount of impact to the public and apologize for any inconvenience,” Lane said.