The environmental analysis and review process for a proposed microwave radio antenna tower in the St. Mary area of Glacier National Park has been completed and a decision to upgrade the existing infrastructure has been made. National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director John Wessels signed the decision on January 22, 2013. The environmental impacts associated with the project and consideration of public comments were part of the analysis process.
The replacement tower will not be a cell tower, nor will it provide cell service; there are no cell towers in Glacier National Park. The tower will upgrade existing infrastructure and provide digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband Internet service to the greater St. Mary area as part of a larger statewide Montana Public Service Commission requirement mandating CenturyLink to upgrade communications capabilities at its rural exchanges. The tower will also support National Park Service radio communications equipment.
Currently, the greater St. Mary area is limited to cellular modem and satellite technologies for Internet services, and does not include the faster and larger capacity DSL Internet service for residential, visitor, and government use. CenturyLink's Internet service in the greater St. Mary area is therefore not meeting the demands of local users.
CenturyLink's tower must be located within the park because the new system will need to be hardwired to the existing CenturyLink equipment building, which has been in the St. Mary developed area since 1955. Due to concerns raised by park management about additional communications infrastructure within the park, and to avoid placing an additional tower in the Divide Creek floodplain, the new tower will replace the existing National Park Service radio tower. The existing 70-foot tall tower will be removed and National Park Service radio equipment will be co-located with CenturyLink's equipment on the replacement tower.
A right-of-way permit will be issued to CenturyLink to build and operate the tower. It will be an approximately 80-foot tall, three-legged, steel lattice structure with a 6-foot diameter microwave dish. The tower will be supported by an approximately16-foot by 16-foot concrete footing. Construction will take approximately three weeks.
The decision document is available on the agency's planning website.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier National Park
Showing posts with label CenturyLink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CenturyLink. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Monday, January 9, 2012
Public Comments Encouraged for Proposal to Install Telecommunications Tower
Glacier National Park is requesting public comment on a proposal from CenturyLink to install a new telecommunications tower in the St. Mary administrative area inside the park. An environmental assessment financed by the project proponent is being conducted. Public comments on the tower proposal should be directed to the park by February 3.
The tower would service the greater St. Mary area and is part of a larger statewide initiative through the Montana Public Service Commission to upgrade telecommunications facilities to small rural exchanges in Montana.
The telecommunication capacity in the St. Mary area, both inside and outside the park, is currently inadequate to support resident, visitor, and government internet demands. The new tower would upgrade the area's telecommunication capacity to a modern standard and improve the reliability and speed of internet access. The National Park Service's existing 50-foot radio tower in St. Mary would be removed and replaced with a new, approximately 80-foot tall microwave antenna and radio support structure. The new tower would be constructed of steel lattice supported on a concrete footing, and would include a 6-foot diameter microwave dish for CenturyLink and up to three National Park Service antennas.
The new structure would be located next to the existing park telecommunications building in the St. Mary administrative area, and the microwave feed wiring would be connected to the existing CenturyLink equipment building. The new structure would be designed to provide a direct line of sight to the CenturyLink Divide Mountain transfer station.
To date, two alternatives have been identified: 1) The no-action alternative, and 2) an action alternative that would remove the existing National Park Service radio tower and install a new tower.
Comments and concerns on the proposed project should be submitted by Friday, February 3. Comments can be posted online, or may be mailed to:
Superintendent
Glacier National Park
Attn: St. Mary Microwave Tower Proposal
P.O. Box 128
West Glacier, MT, 59936
There will be another opportunity to comment on the project when the environmental assessment is completed.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
The tower would service the greater St. Mary area and is part of a larger statewide initiative through the Montana Public Service Commission to upgrade telecommunications facilities to small rural exchanges in Montana.
The telecommunication capacity in the St. Mary area, both inside and outside the park, is currently inadequate to support resident, visitor, and government internet demands. The new tower would upgrade the area's telecommunication capacity to a modern standard and improve the reliability and speed of internet access. The National Park Service's existing 50-foot radio tower in St. Mary would be removed and replaced with a new, approximately 80-foot tall microwave antenna and radio support structure. The new tower would be constructed of steel lattice supported on a concrete footing, and would include a 6-foot diameter microwave dish for CenturyLink and up to three National Park Service antennas.
The new structure would be located next to the existing park telecommunications building in the St. Mary administrative area, and the microwave feed wiring would be connected to the existing CenturyLink equipment building. The new structure would be designed to provide a direct line of sight to the CenturyLink Divide Mountain transfer station.
To date, two alternatives have been identified: 1) The no-action alternative, and 2) an action alternative that would remove the existing National Park Service radio tower and install a new tower.
Comments and concerns on the proposed project should be submitted by Friday, February 3. Comments can be posted online, or may be mailed to:
Superintendent
Glacier National Park
Attn: St. Mary Microwave Tower Proposal
P.O. Box 128
West Glacier, MT, 59936
There will be another opportunity to comment on the project when the environmental assessment is completed.
Jeff
Hiking in Glacier.com
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