After Sunday, the west side of Glacier National Park's Going-to-the-Sun Road will be closed to vehicles from Avalanche to Logan Pass as full-bore fall reconstruction work gets under way.

Logan Pass will still be accessible from the park's eastern entrance at St. Mary after the west-side section is closed at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

The closed section will be open to hikers and bikers throughout the fall shoulder season as weather allows, said Jack Gordon, Glacier's landscape architect.

The closure will allow for accelerated reconstruction work on both lanes of the road, along with ongoing projects aimed at repairing damage from a fall 2006 rainstorm.

There will be a total of five projects beyond Avalanche Campground during the fall season.

Immediately after the closure, paving will get under way on a 3.5-mile section of road that has been rebuilt between Crystal Point (just above The Loop) to Haystack Creek.

Working from the top down to take advantage of the limited weeks before snow flies, reconstruction will focus on the section between Logan Pass and Big Bend, Gordon said.

That work has been under way for several weeks, involving improved drainage installation, rebuilding guardwalls and masonry and rebuilding the road's subsurface.

The upper section of road has been closed most of the summer from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., allowing for scaling work - bringing down loose rock from the cliff faces above the road. East of Logan Pass, the road will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. to allow for scaling work during the fall.

Workers also have been using cranes to salvage usable rock that has fallen below the road.

Another large project will involve building a new and improved shuttle-system stop area on the curb area between the Logan Pass Visitor Center and Sun Road.

The Logan Pass parking lot will remain open to vehicles arriving from St. Mary.

A final project will involve shoring up a section of road along Upper McDonald Creek that was damaged by flood waters three years ago. That work, which can get under way in the latter weeks of the fall, will involve installing 2,000 cubic yards of riprap between Sun Road and the creek.

This year's work program on Sun Road will cost between $17 million and $18 million. Last year, there was about $23 million in work on the road, but much of that was directed at storm damage repairs, Gordon said.

Sun Road is scheduled to close on the east side, from Jackson Glacier Overlook to Logan Pass, on Oct. 19 unless it is necessary to close earlier because of snow or hazardous driving conditions.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com