Yellowstone: No ‘perfect’ options in redo of collapsed road

By Rob Hotakainen | 02/15/2024 01:11 PM EST

Rebuilding a major entrance road that got hit hard by a historic flood in 2022 promises to be a costly and complicated project for the National Park Service.

This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows a flooded out North Entrance Road, of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Mont., on June 13, 2022. Flooding caused by heavy rains over the weekend caused road and bridge damage in Yellowstone National Park, leading park officials to close all the entrances through at least Wednesday. Gardiner, a town just north of the park, was isolated, with water covering the road north of the town and a mudslide blocking the road to the south. (Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service via AP)

This aerial photo provided by the National Park Service shows a flooded out North Entrance Road of Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana, on June 13, 2022. Jacob W. Frank/National Park Service/AP

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said Wednesday that park officials have found no “perfect alternative” as they move to replace a major entrance road that collapsed during a historic flood in June of 2022.

Outlining three preliminary options at a virtual public meeting, Sholly warned that constructing a new road will be costly.

And he said it must also be built to withstand the park’s shifting soil; avoid disrupting archaeological sites; protect the park’s teeming wildlife; and be resilient to earthquakes, rock slides, another big flood and the growing effects of climate change.

“I wish there was an alternative that was perfect — there’s not,” Sholly said.

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