Avalanche could mean big problems for Sun Road

The Going-to-the-Sun Road has seen significant damage on the west side at Granite Creek, where a massive avalanche partially removed at least a lane of the highway.

About 200 feet of the road was damaged by the slide, which Park avalanche experts described as a 100-year event, Park spokeswoman Amy Vanderbilt said.

Plows had not made it to the damage as of late last week because of more avalanche danger due to a late spring snowstorm.

Park engineers were still trying to fully access the damage, which happened on a stretch of road that was rebuilt just last summer. They should get a better view of it late this week and come up with firm cost estimates.

The slide likely occurred in early January, when rain fell on top of a large snowpack. The avalanche ran about 4,000 vertical feet, crossing the Sun Road twice and the Packer's Roost Road as well.

Vanderbilt said monies to fix the highway would come from federal emergency highway funds.

This isn't the first time the road has seen significant damage from Mother Nature. In November 2006 up to 10 inches of rain fell in Glacier's highcountry, flooding the Park.

The flooding did about $7 million in damage in several places on the road. The largest section was just below the east side tunnel. That damage took years to completely fix and crews are expected to finally pave over repairs from that damage this spring.