The Flathead County commissioners voted unanimously last week to award Gateway to Glacier Trail organization $845,811 in Community Transportation Enhancement Program money.

The federal money will be used to build a 6.8-mile long trail along U .S. 2 from Coram to West Glacier. A trail already exists from Hungry Horse to Coram, and a trail could be included in the future U.S. 2 rebuild project from Hungry Horse across the South Fork of the Flathead River and through Bad Rock Canyon.

The nonprofit organization beat out three Kalispell applicants: The Sam Bibler Commemorative Trails Project on Willow Glen Drive, the Stillwater River Trail at Flathead Valley Community College and an enhancement plan at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

The new Canyon trail will be dedicated to the late Jim Dupont, who lived in West Glacier, served as Flathead County sheriff for 16 years and was in his first term as a county commissioner when he died in March.

County parks director Jed Fisher relayed the county park board’s recommendation in favor of the Canyon trail, noting that the project averaged $128,000 per mile and was the county’s best “bang for the buck.”

“The West Glacier project stood out heads and shoulders above the others,” Fisher told the commissioners on Dec. 11. “It’s the picture-perfect project, and there has been huge involvement from the Canyon folks.”

The estimated cost of the trail from Coram to West Glacier is $871,745. Gateway to Glacier is required to raise a 13.42 percent local match, about $117,000. They raised nearly $59,000 by the time the application was submitted Oct. 1.

The county’s 2012 CTEP allocation of $341,599 brought the balance from the federal reimbursement program to $950,349. The Montana Department of Transportation took an 11 percent administration fee, leaving $845,811 for local trail projects.

Flathead County has received more than $4.7 million in CTEP funding since 1992 for trails and other transportation-related enhancements., but the rules have changed. Future funding for trails will be under the Transportation Alternatives Program, and local governments will have to compete for funding.