Going-to-the-Sun Road Rehabilitation Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement: Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is considering the rehabilitation of the 50-mile (80-kilometer) Going-to-the-Sun Road, a National Historic Landmark. Road rehabilitation is needed to correct structural deficiencies in the deteriorating roadway, improve safety, preserve historic and cultural resources, provide a safe and pleasant driving experience, and to upgrade visitor use facilities adjacent to the road such as parking and pullouts, and roadside trails. To fully consider the options for improvements, alternatives including a No Action were evaluated. The National Park Service's Preferred Alternative is to rehabilitate the Going-to-the-Sun Road over a 7- to 8-year period beginning in 2004. Rehabilitation includes repairs to historic retaining walls, guardwalls, tunnels, and other structural features contributing to the historic character of the Road. The National Park Service also proposes to implement mitigation measures such as transit service during construction, additional exhibits and interpretive information, and other visitor use improvements and programs to aid visitors and businesses during rehabilitation. Under the Preferred Alternative, the Road and access to Logan Pass would remain open during the visitor season. The National Park Service concluded that the Preferred Alternative provides the best overall balance in addressing needed Road rehabilitation, protecting and preserving historic, scenic, and natural resources, while allowing continued visitor access and minimizing impacts on regional businesses. Other alternatives considered for rehabilitation of the Going-to-the-Sun Road included: the No Action Alternative, Rehabilitation of the Road over a 50-year period based on current levels of funding; Priority Rehabilitation over 20 years; or an Accelerated Completion Alternative, which would take 6 to 8 years to complete. The consequences of these actions on socioeconomic, cultural, and natural resources were initially discussed in a Draft Environmental Impact Statement released for a 60-day comment period in September 2002. Following public hearings and receipt of comments, the National Park Service has made minor revisions to the proposed action and conducted additional analysis of potential environmental and economic impacts. The Final Environmental Impact Statement includes those revisions and responses to substantive comments received on the Draft EIS. This document is 354 pages (18.3 Mb) with index, glossary, figures and tables. (Note: table of contents will be found on file page 26, document page i.) The document starts with a summary (22p.; 4.6 Mb)that can be found separately at http://www.nps.gov/glac/pdf/2003roadsum.pdf