Highway 2 closed for avalanche control work in Glacier Park
<p>A BNSF freight train heads east toward Marias Pass.</p>
A 56-mile stretch of Highway 2 between West Glacier and East Glacier will be closed Thursday from 2-6 p.m. while BNSF Railway conducts avalanche control work in the area.
The closure is from milepost 153.5 and milepost 209.2.
BNSF requested and received a special-use permit from Glacier National Park to conduct emergency avalanche hazard mitigation activities in an area along the southern boundary of the park.
The permit only allows the use of hand charger devices, an avalauncher or explosive charges delivered by a helicopter, and only during daylight hours.
The planned mitigation activity is the use of a Daisy Bell. This avalanche mitigation technique uses a cylinder suspended from a helicopter that can be accurately positioned above the snowpack. It uses a small, controlled pressure wave from the sudden combustion of hydrogen to trigger the snow.
Limited local access will be permitted on Highway 2 while avalanche control work is in progress. Travelers are advised to take an alternate route during the closure.
BNSF has closed their main line in the area after several avalanches came down on the tracks between Essex and Marias Pass.
“Last night and this morning, there were multiple avalanches of different magnitudes impacting our right-of-way,” BNSF spokesman Matt Jones said Thursday.
The slides have stopped all rail traffic in the area due to the threat of continued avalanches in the area south of Glacier National Park.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari says the railroad continues to bus passengers between stations in Shelby and Whitefish.
Amtrak trains had been running without passengers along the Middle Fork corridor because of the avalanche risk.
The Flathead Avalanche Center issued a backcountry avalanche warning Wednesday for much of Northwest Montana, including the Whitefish, Swan and Flathead ranges, along with portions of Glacier National Park.
For updated information on avalanche hazard mitigation activities and related activities along the southern border of Glacier National Park, please contact the railroad at 406-589-6891 or at Matthew.Jones@BNSF.com. Visit the Montana Department of Transportation website for road closures at http://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/scripts/alerts.pl