Moose-Wilson Road construction begins spring 2022

News and Adventure from Glacier National Park

The National Park Service will begin construction activities addressing infrastructure needs in the southern half of the Moose-Wilson Corridor beginning this spring. Public access will be limited to weekends during next summer’s construction activities.

All work will preserve the rustic character of the corridor and provide high-quality visitor opportunities including wildlife and scenery viewing. Work will be completed in phases, with the first phase implemented in 2022-2023, the second phase in 2024-2025, and additional phases designed and implemented in the future.

As part of a multi-year planning process, the park thoughtfully evaluated options to provide the greatest amount of visitor access with the lowest additional cost and construction duration, while providing for the safety of visitors and crews during construction activities.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the southern portion of the Moose-Wilson Road from Granite Canyon Entrance to the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve will be closed, except on weekends (7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Monday) and federal holidays. Parking along the road is prohibited. The southern portion of the road will be closed entirely prior to Memorial Day and after Labor Day.

The northern section of the road will remain accessible. Access to the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve and Death Canyon Trailhead will be available from the north, from Moose, Wyoming, during construction. The Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve Center opens for summer operations May 29.

Phase 1 work will include paving the 1.4-mile rough, unpaved section of the road, improvements with the Granite Canyon Entrance including an additional entrance lane to ease backups, improvements at the Granite Canyon Trailhead, including two vault toilets, bench seating, additional parking, improved traffic flow, and decreased roadside parking, improvements with the Poker Flats horse trailer parking area, Kaufmann Creek bridge construction, improved pullouts for vehicles along the road, and new visitor information signage.

The Granite Canyon Trailhead will be closed to all access. Winter access will be available from December 2022 to March 2023. Access to the Granite Canyon trail system, including the Valley Trail, will be available throughout construction from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Grand Teton is working in partnership with the Resort and Teton Village Association to provide information about accessing the southeastern part of the park during construction activities.

The majority of the funding for phase 1 work is provided by the Great American Outdoors Act, also known as the Legacy Restoration Act. The cost of implementing phase 1 is approximately $13 million.

Phase 2 is anticipated to begin in 2024 and includes badly needed repair to the Death Canyon access road, improvements of the Death Canyon Trailhead parking, repair of the Death Canyon Junction trailhead parking area, re-alignment of the north section of the roadway, improvements to the new intersection and final landscape/reclamation efforts of the former roadway.

The park considered other construction projects such as the Snake River Bridge replacement on Wyoming Highway 22 and Jackson Hole Airport closure when planning work in the Moose-Wilson Corridor. The park will continue coordination with Wyoming Department of Transportation and Teton County to minimize overall traveler impacts.

A Record of Decision for the Moose-Wilson Corridor Comprehensive Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement was approved in 2016.

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