The collapsed stretch of highway that connects the town of Jackson, Wyoming and Idaho may soon be open.
That’s the word from the Wyoming Department of Transportation after a large swatch of Highway 22 was swept away in a “catastrophic” landslide back on June 8.
Earlier this week, WYDOT said that they could have a temporary road that would reroute drivers around what is now being referred to as the “Big Fill Slide,” according to Cowboy State Daily.
For now, people who live in Idaho and work in Jackson, or tourists wanting to get to Grand Teton or Yellowstone National Park, have been taking long, out-of-their-way detours to get to work or their destination, which adds hours to their trip, depending on the route.
One of those detours is through Swan Valley to Alpine and then up the Snake River Canyon, a distance of 85 total miles to cover the 24 miles between Jackson and Victor, Idaho, over the pass.
Hammond said the construction effort, which began soon after the road collapsed, has been going “pretty smoothly” with only minor challenges along the way.
Hammond says that the work has been going relatively smoothly in getting the pass reopen, with crews working round-the-clock, in two, 12-hour shifts that cover all 24 hours of the day.
“Each day they’re getting right back to work,” Hammond says. He also described the work, literally from the ground up, as not being a permanent fix. Crews are clearing the ground, then laying down crushed rock, using a limestone base, then concrete is poured, allowed to set, then road striping as well as new signage is put in place for safety.
Hammond clarified that even though a road is paved, that doesn’t mean it can be open to traffic. But crews are working diligently to get the temporary re-route open.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was in Cheyenne and briefed on the Highway 22 road collapse by WYDOT staff. Buttigieg said the federal government will try to get financial assistance and technical support to Jackson for the reconstruction as soon as possible. Governor Mark Gordon made an emergency declaration soon after the event to get funding needed to complete the project. .
“The biggest message that I want folks who have been impacted by this to hear is we’re doing everything we can to provide resources, because for a lot of folks this is not a question of recreation or convenience, this is a real bread and butter issue,” Buttigieg said.
The original cost estimate for the detour reconstruction was almost half a million dollars, but Hammond says the final cost will be higher because of certain safety features and signage.
