West Entrance Station & St. Mary Visitor Center Improvements

Glacier National Park » West Entrance Station & St. Mary Visitor Center Improvements » Document List

This is two different projects: West Entrance Station Improvements and St. Mary Visitor Center Parking Improvements & Modifications for new transit system. The scoping is being conducted together for both projects for the Environmental Assessments. United States Department of the Interior

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Glacier National Park
West Glacier, Montana 59936


L76-GLAC-05-128, 06-009


Dear Friends:

Glacier National Park is considering modifications to facilities at both ends of the Going-to-the-Sun Road to reduce traffic congestion and to prepare for a new transit system. At the West Entrance Station there is a need to address several issues including: handicap accessibility, security concerns, and lack of storage, an employee break room, and a formal employee parking area. In addition, there is expected to be an increase in construction vehicle traffic during rehabilitation of the Going-to-the-Sun Road that could cause further congestion at the entrance.
Modifications to the St. Mary Visitor Center and parking lot are needed to accommodate new transit vehicles and visitors who choose the transit option on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Locations for an outside performance area adjacent to the St. Mary Visitor Center will also be analyzed. In addition, alternatives for the St. Mary Entrance Stations and the Divide Creek Bridge will be developed to address current flooding problems.
The National Park Service (NPS) intends to prepare a combined Environmental Assessment (EA) and Assessment of Effect (AEF) for each of these projects to assess the impacts of identified alternatives. An early step in the NPS planning process is to involve the public. We are requesting your comments to identify issues and alternatives that should be addressed in the EA/AEFs being prepared for these projects.
Comments can be provided directly through the park’s planning website (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/parkHome.cfm?parkId=61) by selecting this project. Or write to: Superintendent, Glacier National Park, Attn: Entrance Station EAs, West Glacier, Montana 59936. Comments are due by January 13, 2006.
Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents available for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the record a respondent’s identity as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment.
However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.
Thank you very much for your continued support and interest in Glacier National Park.

Sincerely,

/s/ Michael O. Holm

Michael O. Holm
Superintendent