Crews begin work on North Fork, West Glacier roads

Flathead County has started work on reconstructing and rehabilitating roads in the North Fork and West Glacier areas, it announced last week.

Brice Contractors has begun mobilization and work on Belton Stage Road and the Blankenship Road.

The work will start with culvert replacements and reshaping of the current road in preparation for placement of millings for final surface. Vehicles, motorcycles, and bicycles use extreme caution when traveling through these sections.

Partial width closures and maximum of 30-minute delays should be anticipated when traveling within the project limits.

The millings are from the Going-to-the-Sun Road reconstruction, which is currently underway in Glacier National Park.

Glacier Drive, which runs from Polebridge township to the Polebridge entrance of Glacier National Park will also see millings — in essence, it will be paved.

The projects have been years in the making. A $5.33 million contract was recently awarded to Brice Inc., of Alaska.

In the upper North Fork, the public can expect delays through construction zones and after Aug. 6, only local traffic (residents and guests) will be allowed up the upper end of the North Fork Road. Folks wanting access the river will have to put in at Ford — the border put-in will be closed.

In addition, crews from Glacier Park will be screening folks trying to get into the Polebridge Entrance at the Polebridge turnoff to keep traffic at a minimum on Glacier Drive.

Folks can expect delays in Polebridge itself beginning on Aug. 14.

The upper North Fork work is expected to be completed by Oct. 26 of this year.