PacificCorp to add parking to Bigfork nature trail

A new parking lot to service the east side of the Swan River Nature Trail may be constructed as early as 2020. During the Oct. 17 meeting of the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork, President Paul Mutascio related a letter from PacificCorp, owner of the Bigfork Hydroelectric Plant, detailing plans to construct a 10-space lot where the trail meets Swan River Road. PacificCorp is constructing the lot as part of their requirements for compliance with their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license and Bigfork Settlement Agreement. As part of these agreements, PacificCorp is required to make recreation facility improvements to the area, such as the addition of parking.

Construction of additional parking along the trail was first proposed back in 2006 and slated to take place in conjunction with the redevelopment of Pacific Park in 2007, according to the letter. Site designs were prepared at this point in time but for “unknown reasons,” the letter states, the project never moved forward.

The Oct. 10 letter stated that PacificCorp intends to begin construction on the lot as early as 2020.

“Kudos to PacificCorp for doing this,” Mutascio said. “The parking over there is really crowded. It’s the only public access, ingress, egress on the west end of the Swan River that people can use.”