Joint committee narrows WYDOT interim work to highway funding, safety and department updates

At a meeting of the Joint Transportation Committee, members narrowed their interim priorities for the Wyoming Department of Transportation to three broad topics: highway funding, highway safety and WYDOT updates, the committee co-chairs said.

WYDOT Director Darren Westby told the committee the department is focused on preserving the state highway system and that funding remains the central problem. "After the passage of House Bill 33 ... funding our roads and infrastructure wasn't a very important topic," Westby said, arguing the legislature and WYDOT must continue working toward a more sustainable, long-term funding source.

The director described recent volatility in WYDOT’s multi-year program (the STIP): the agency cut about $70,000,000 of projects during an inflation spike and has recently lost roughly $30,000,000 in federal funding, which pushed previously planned projects back on the timeline. "We are in preservation-only mode," he said, and any additional capacity or expansion projects would need one-time or recurring new revenue.

Safety and workforce retention also drew attention. Westby and committee members said WYDOT struggles to compete for workers—snowplow drivers, maintainers, mechanics and highway patrol staff—against higher local pay in some jurisdictions. The department is considering facility (vertical construction) needs for shops and buildings used to maintain roads, and called for work-zone safety reviews after committee members and staff described dangerous conditions at construction sites.

Stakeholders who spoke included Kelly Little of the Associated General Contractors of Wyoming, who supported an overall focus on funding and priorities and urged continued discussion of permanent trailer registration for fleets. Devin Brubaker, airport director for Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport and president of the Wyoming Airports Coalition, asked the committee to consider replenishing a pot of state funds that WYDOT Aeronautics uses to help restart commercial air service at smaller airports. Westby said those airport-support funds have been successful in some communities but now need replenishment.

Committee members said they will consolidate WYDOT-related interim topics so staff can use time efficiently. Co-chairs proposed three umbrella topics the committee will forward to Management Council: highway funding, highway safety and WYDOT updates. The "WYDOT updates" topic will include subtopics such as permanent trailer registration, commercial air service, statutory cleanup and Transportation Commission briefings.

The committee did not hold a formal roll-call vote to establish those priorities in the transcript; members discussed and accepted the three-topics approach by consensus and directed staff to organize the interim workplan. The co-chairs said they will present the recommendation to Management Council and schedule WYDOT briefings in the interim, with the first committee meeting planned April 30–May 1 in Sheridan and later sessions in Douglas and Cheyenne.

WYDOT asked the committee for a focused examination of funding mechanisms that could support both preservation and potential expansion projects (for example, passing lanes and corridor improvements noted by Westby). The director said any major reprioritization would be processed through the Transportation Commission and the STIP; he described the commission-agency relationship as technical rather than political and said the agency would provide information to the committee on STIP prioritization and expected funding changes coming from recent legislative activity.

The committee also asked WYDOT to include in its updates examples of internal efficiency and safety improvements that the department has implemented, so legislators can see documented time and cost savings before deciding whether to pursue broader efficiency studies across state agencies.

Next steps: co-chairs will finalize the three interim topics and deliver them to Management Council for formal assignment and staff support. The committee expects WYDOT briefings and Transportation Commission updates during the interim.