Rehabilitation of Loop Road at Dillon Pass and Bigfoot EA

The National Park Service (NPS), in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, is proposing to rehabilitate two road sections of Loop Road to address structural, drainage, and accessibility issues - the Dillon Pass section from mile post (MP) 24.9 to MP 25 and the Bigfoot section, starting west of Bigfoot Picnic Area on Loop Road, for 1.19 miles to an area by Bigfoot Road. Together, the Dillon Pass and Bigfoot sections encompass 1.2 miles of the 32-mile Loop Road.

The purpose of this project is to provide a stable and more sustainable roadway to ensure the safety of visitors and to minimize impacts to park resources. Creating a more sustainable roadway would: 1) improve drainage and stabilize existing slopes; 2) ensure safe sight distances for turnouts for vehicles and bicycles; 3) improve accessibility and reduce tripping hazards on walkways; 4) maximize the use of the roadway prism to include paved ditches and/or pullouts; and 5) minimize the need for future park maintenance.

The project would involve repair work including: 1) the removal of an abandoned culvert and backfilled concrete under roadway; 2) reestablishing a compacted buttress that covers any downspout culverts to termination points; 3) building a culvert inlet headwall; 4) unplugging the culvert; 5) addressing culvert downspout burial; 6) fixing calving roadside supports and buttress; and 7) completing revegetation efforts on all new construction and disturbed areas on both north and south sides of the Loop Road.

The project would also address an area of Loop Road west of the Bigfoot Picnic Area that has become incredibly rough for park visitor vehicular traffic on the Loop Road, for 1.19 miles to an area by Bigfoot Road. The work would consist of milling the old roadway asphalt, re‐utilizing the asphalt millings by compacting the material into a solid base layer, and then overlaying 1.19 miles with asphalt hot mix. This portion of the project would also address drainage and visitor accessibility issues at the Bigfoot Picnic Area.

There are three ways to submit your comments:
1) Provide written comments at one of the Open Houses
2) Online through the Planning, Environment & Public Comment webpage for the 2018
Rehabilitation of Loop Road at Dillon Pass and Bigfoot EA
(http://parkplanning.nps.gov/badl)
3) By mail for letters postmarked by August 13, 2018:

Attn: Superintendent
Ben Reifel Visitor Center
25216 Ben Reifel Road
Interior, SD 57750

Engaging with you is a critical part of our planning process. Before including a personal address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in written comments, anyone providing written comment should be aware their entire comment - including their personal identifying information - may be made publicly available at any time. While anyone wishing to comment may ask the NPS in their comment to withhold their personal identifying information from public review, the NPS cannot guarantee it will be able to do so.

Document Content:

Loop Road Rehab Notification Letter   (199.1 KB, PDF file) Press Release Road Rehab EA   (385.0 KB, PDF file) BADL Rehabilitation of Loop Road at Dillon Pass and Bigfoot EA   (4.1 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.