Ideas like a second truck arrestor, staffing a weigh station, and slashing the weight limit of heavy trucks are all expected at tonight’s community meeting following the fatal collision on Teton Pass on July 7.
Community members meet today at 5:30 p.m. at the Old Wilson Schoolhouse to discuss safety solutions. Local and state officials are joining highway engineers and residents at the brainstorming session. It was organized by friends of the two men who were killed.
The discussion will be livestreamed on KHOL.
From 2016 to 2020, Teton Pass saw an average of 68 crashes per year and eight fatal crashes, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
But WYDOT Assistant Chief Engineer for Operations Mark Ayen says that doesn’t mean the state considers it unsafe.
“Honestly, for the traffic volumes on that corridor, the actual incident rate is pretty normal, maybe even a little low. It feels high because it’s very personal to a lot of people,” he said.
All ideas to improve safety are on the table, but solutions will cost money that WYDOT doesn’t have, Ayen said.
“We have a pretty well documented funding lack at WYDOT. We’ve been underfunded for a long time,” he said.
Above-ground changes are cheaper than the state’s wish-list pitch of boring a tunnel somewhere below the top of the 8,000-foot-high pass.
“We are estimating a billion dollars with a B to do that,” Ayen said. “I don’t know that we’ve ever done a geology investigation to even see if it’s feasible.”
Co-organizer Gary Kofinas told Buckrail that the meeting is meant to dig into those price tags.
“Every option has costs and benefits. We need to understand them. … Tell me the cost of a human life,” he said.
