A crew on Sunday resumed plowing operations on Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road, encountering 24 avalanches that had crossed the road last week.

That was just up to the Triple Arches in the Big Bend area; more slides were expected as the plows advance. The crew also found rock and debris on the road between each slide path.

The avalanches and debris on the road were the result of last week’s three-day deluge that delivered 4 to 8 inches of rain across the park along with up to 36 inches of new snow at high elevations.

Some of the new slides on the road were up to 200 feet long and 15 feet deep.

The crew was scheduled this week to continue clearing the way back to Logan Pass, where work had been underway on the Big Drift and the parking lot before last week’s foul weather kept plows off the road and set back road-clearing progress.

Many areas of Sun Road that once were cleared of snow now need to be plowed again. One snow slide destroyed at least eight segments of guard rail near Haystack Creek.

An east-side crew, meanwhile, was scheduled to resume work Monday between Jackson Glacier Overlook and the Big Drift.

 Limited shuttle service on the west side of the park is expected to begin Thursday to allow for increased visitor access on Sun Road.  

The shuttle service will be available from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, with shuttles departing from the Apgar Visitor Center and traveling directly to the Loop, where there will be arrivals about every 20 minutes.

There won’t be additional stops between the visitor center and the Loop. Full shuttle service will begin when Logan Pass is opened to vehicles, although park officials have no estimate when that might be.

Vehicles currently can travel as far as Avalanche on the west side of the park. Hiking and bicycling access is allowed from Avalanche to the Loop while road crews are working.

For current hiker-biker access restrictions, go to the park’s road status web page, http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm.

On the east side of the park, Going-to-the-Sun Road is open to vehicle travel from St. Mary to Jackson Glacier Overlook. Road construction is underway between Rising Sun and Siyeh Bend. 

Visitors should use caution when traveling this 9-mile stretch of roadway since it is a rough gravel surface. There is no hiker-biker access past Jackson Glacier Overlook.