Make our newscast part of your daily listening routine. Subscribe on Spotify (or wherever you listen to podcasts).
Traffic cones are gone near Wilson and and leaving soon on Teton Pass.
These are the signs of completion for two multimillion-dollar projects that define the driving experience for thousands of daily commuters and tourists in Jackson Hole.
Bob Hammond, Jackson’s resident engineer with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) said it’s a landmark moment.
“It feels fantastic to have this new road open,” he said after checking on progress Monday morning. “Ames Construction and their subcontractors did a fantastic job of working with us and planning that out.”
Early Monday morning, crews successfully opened Teton Pass after a three-day weekend closure. Last weekend’s round-the-clock work is expected to be the final hurdle to rebuild the pass in the same spot the 60-year-old road collapsed just over a year ago.
Coming weeks could bring minor traffic delays while contract crews put in some signage, grass and guardrails.
“We got most of [the guardrails] in so we felt comfortable opening up for everyone’s safety,” Hammond said.
The entire project is estimated to cost about $43 million. The pass rebuild drew attention for its inclusion of over 4 million recycled glass bottles helping to fill in the landslide area.
The “Big Fill Slide” also saw national news coverage illustrating the road’s role bridging the wealth divide between Jackson Hole and the bedroom communities where about 13% of workers live.
Less likely to make headlines, the even more expensive Snake River bridge project is just five miles east in Wilson, and also complete as of Monday.
The Snake River Bridge replacement project and intersection redesign has been on WYDOT’s to-do list for 20 years, Hammond said.
“The old bridge was fracture-critical. It was narrow and had capacity problems. And now we’ve got a bridge that doesn’t have any of those problems,” he said.
Serious discussions ramped up in 2014 and construction started in 2023, according to Hammond. The project has grown to include new pedestrian underpass west of the river, four wildlife crossings and wildlife fencing.
At times, the project drew flack for the traffic it created. But now, Hammond said, all models show it should alleviate the evening congestion by “quite a lot.”
The new lanes make it possible for more lanes at the intersection of Highways 22 and 390. Plus, four brand new lanes won’t collect potholes as quickly. And when freeze-thaw cycles do take their toll, there will be room to maneuver without headache-inducing backups in the bottleneck.
