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Wyoming’s state transportation agency recently finished a four-lane bridge across the Snake River near Wilson, putting an end to about two years of construction-related traffic.
But an expansion of Highway 22, from the “Y” intersection to the base of Teton Pass, could bring it back in the name of improving traffic long-term.
At summer’s peak, nearly 30,000 daily vehicles travel the two-lane state highway to and from the Stilson intersection, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation engineer Bob Hammond. As Jackson Hole grows, he said, so will congestion if the road remains two lanes.
“A two-lane road just isn’t feasible, and neither is a three-lane route,” he said.
According to proposed alternatives from the state, the highway could be four or five lanes, depending on an ongoing environmental review and public input that will guide an eventual WYDOT decision. The agency recently completed a public process to decide alternatives to include in an environmental review.
The environmental review is required by NEPA, or the National Environmental Policy Act, and is still in early stages. Hammond expects that to be finalized in early 2027.
“That means that we’re going through and we’re looking at alternatives, we’re looking at all the impacts,” he said.
But Jenny Fitzgerald with the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance said the study is inadequate. She’s urging WYDOT to go one step further in a more in-depth review called an environmental impact statement.
“I just would hope that the community can get on board to push for a more creative solution and pump the brakes so that we can get this right, not just done quickly,” Fitzgerald said.
Proposed alternatives range from a four or five-lane throughway that includes a pathway for walkers and cyclists, an expansion of 3 lanes on the roadway through Wilson and an extension of an existing road in West Jackson. There is also an option for no change.
Fitzgerald prefers the latter, with a couple of minor changes, like nixing the Spring Gulch road traffic light, something the transportation agency is considering.
She’s unconvinced that an expansion is the solution. She worries new construction would hurt migrating wildlife as well as overtake nearby wetlands and existing conservation easements.
Besides, she said, bottlenecks would likely remain, even after an expansion. Like at the base of the two-lane Teton Pass.
“Then there’s also induced demand, which is a well-known concept where, basically, you build it and they will come,” she said.
Construction is still likely years out, 2030 at its earliest. In that time, Hammond expects more and more vehicles to continue using the popular thruway.
