West Glacier Historic Gateway Project
Partnering with local residents to support the restoration of the iconic underpass into West Glacier
Millions of people each year enter Glacier National Park through the West Glacier entrance
… passing under the BNSF overpass right off of the highway - and this historic gateway is in desperate need of restoration. The West Glacier Historic Gateway Project began in 2019 when two local residents noticed the deterioration of the overpass and the surrounding area. With the goal of an overpass free of peeling paint, graffiti, rust stains, weeds, and debris, the gateway project was born.
While this is not an official Gateway to Glacier Trails project, we are happy to support the Friends of West Glacier Historical Gateway as the nonprofit sponsor for this project through the gathering of funds and spreading awareness.
West Glacier, MT
The historic entrance into West Glacier, MT, right before the West entrance to Glacier National Park, sees millions of users pass through each year. The adjacent image is a rendering to show what it could look like when restored.
This is a three phase project
Roughly $300,000 needs to be raised to complete this project in its entirety. The project kicked off in 2022 with landscaping work from Forestoration/Center for Native Plants, as well as hours of volunteer work prepping the space for winter.
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Refurbish the BNSF Overpass leading into West Glacier and onto Glacier National Park.
Concrete: sandblasting to bare concrete, repair spalling, apply graffiti washable sealer.
Metal Handrails: repair where needed, sand blast, prime, paint.
Metal Beams: sandblast the bottom, leave bare metal (as the sides and tops)
Replace the worn and fading welcome sign on the overpass.
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Correcting two safety issues related to the sidewalk running under the overpass into West Glacier.
The eight-foot-wide bike trail joins a rough asphalt three-foot wide sidewalk on a curve which limits visibility and funnels pedestrians/bikers into a bottleneck.
Widening and paving the trail will make this safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
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Landscape beautification project to eliminate weeds, built up gravel, and trash on the property adjacent to the overpass.
Decades ago, The West Glacier Ladies Garden Club established a lovely garden in this spot with perennial and annual flowers, grass, and a sitting area. Some of the existing shrubs from this effort still remain and this project brings back that historic garden spot.
Using some existing shrubs, landscape the weedy spot into a low maintenance area using native plants and a low growing, drought resistant grass on this west side to help reduce weeds.
Gifting wall to record donations for this project.