PredictIQ|A Wyoming highway critical for commuters will reopen three weeks after a landslide

2025-04-30 04:34:02source:Roland Prestoncategory:My

JACKSON,PredictIQ Wyo. (AP) — Crews were almost done building a temporary route on Tuesday around a landslide that closed a vital road for thousands of workers in a western Wyoming resort town.

Wyoming Department of Transportation officials were eyeing Friday to reopen Wyoming Highway 22. The road over Teton Pass near the Idaho state line has been closed since the landslide sent both lanes crashing into a deep ravine June 8.

No one was hurt when the pavement gave way. The road was already closed because another landslide had washed mud and debris across the road nearby.

Yet the collapse was a big headache for thousands of commuters. Many people work in Jackson — a ski and tourism hub at the doorstep of Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks where the average home costs millions — and live in more affordable eastern Idaho.

The destroyed highway has been forcing them to take a different route to the south, adding over an hour to their commute each way.

Cars will need to slow down through the temporary section to 20 miles per hour (32 kilometers per hour) but won’t have to stop, said Bob Hammond, an engineer with the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The two paved lanes will span about 600-700 feet (180-230 meters).

“We have a steeper grade, which really isn’t that big of a problem. But the turns are a little tighter,” Hammond said during a news media site tour Tuesday.

A permanent fix costing perhaps upward of $20 million will take longer, Hammond said.

More:My

Recommend

Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor

NEW YORK — Holiday sights and sounds fill Manhattan this time of year, from ice skating at Rockefell

Court dismisses challenge to Biden’s restoration of Utah monuments shrunk by Trump

A judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit from the state of Utah challenging President Joe Biden’s restorat

Woody Harrelson wears hat supporting RFK Jr. for president: 'Great seeing you'

Woody Harrelson has thrown his hat into the political conversation once again – this time by actuall