Teton County commissioners revise WY‑22 scoping letter, press WYDOT on Path 22 safety, wetlands and access; request workshop

Teton County Board of County Commissioners members spent the bulk of their June 23 voucher meeting revising a draft scoping letter on the Wyoming Highway 22 Level 1 and Level 2 pre‑NEPA screening and asked staff to request a workshop with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) before the NEPA phase begins.

The discussion followed public comment from Katherine Dawson of Friends Pathways, who urged the county to press WYDOT to preserve and expand the Path 22 pathway buffer and to pursue additional property for the trail. “The further away people are from high speed vehicular traffic, the better,” Dawson said, and she urged the county to pursue a transfer of nearby BLM parcels and negotiations with Walton Ranch so the pathway can be widened.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the WY‑22 project raises a cluster of issues — pathway safety and continuity, whether Path 22 qualifies as a Section 4(f) recreational property, potential wetland impacts and the treatment of conservation easements — that they want addressed in writing and, where needed, in a meeting with WYDOT and federal agencies before NEPA begins in earnest.

County staff and commissioners agreed to several specific additions to the draft letter. They instructed staff to: - Ask WYDOT and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to explain why the December 2024 FHWA response concluded the pathway meets regulatory exceptions and therefore is not treated as a Section 4(f) property; and to advance rather than retreat the conversation about whether Path 22 is functionally both recreation and transportation. County staff noted FHWA cited 23 CFR 774.13 (F3 and F4) in December 2024 when explaining exceptions for trails located within a transportation right‑of‑way and for trails that function primarily for transportation. - Request WYDOT explain why the project would be evaluated at the Environmental Assessment (EA) level rather than a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), or otherwise justify an EA given the scope of wetlands, easements and pathway concerns raised. - Ask for a workshop with WYDOT prior to initiating the NEPA phase. County transportation staff said they would request a workshop and return a revised draft of the scoping letter to the commission at the June 30 voucher meeting.

Commissioners pressed for additional details in the letter about wetlands and conservation easements. Several commissioners asked WYDOT to evaluate whether condemnation of easement interests would be necessary, how that condemnation would work and who would pay for it. Commissioners also asked for information about how wetland impacts would be avoided, minimized and mitigated and for examples of where mitigation acreage would be sited.

Access and the Bridal/Tribal Trails Connector: Commissioners debated WYDOT’s conceptual access changes for Indian Springs Ranch (ISR), including proposals discussed at the recent open house to relocate or reroute the ISR access to a Bridal/Tribal Trails Connector intersection. Some commissioners opposed eliminating north‑side access for ISR residents; others said the county should ask WYDOT to analyze alternate intersection configurations, including coordinated designs that consider Coyote Canyon Road and the Teton Science School approach. Vice Chair Gardner and other commissioners urged the county to request WYDOT explain its reasoning for the proposed rerouting and to present alternatives and safety analyses at a workshop.

Pathway buffer measurements and winter maintenance: In public comment Friends Pathways said WYDOT and the group measure the pathway buffer differently: WYDOT measures from the travel‑lane white line to the path edge (including the highway shoulder), while Friends Pathways measures from the pavement edge to the path edge. Friends Pathways told the commission WYDOT’s measurement yields a 14–38 foot buffer along parts of the corridor, while the advocacy group calculates a 6–30 foot buffer where the shoulder is not counted. Friends Pathways cited Teton County Pathway Department guidance that 17 feet from pavement edge to pathway edge is the minimum needed to allow winter plowing without recontamination from highway plow spoil.

Transit, managed lanes and phased approaches: Commissioners reiterated county policy preferences that any widening consider managed lanes (HOV or bus/BRT lanes) and that alternatives be scored for safety, mobility and community objectives identified in the county’s Integrated Transportation Plan (ITP). Some commissioners urged WYDOT to study phased, traffic‑demand management options, intersection improvements and signal prioritization as part of alternatives analysis; others said the traffic volumes and recurring congestion suggest more substantive corridor changes will be needed.

Next steps: County transportation staff (Charlotte Frye, Transportation Manager; Amy Ramage, County Engineer) told commissioners they would incorporate the board’s edits, add attachments noted by commissioners (including portions of the ITP that reference HOV/BRT), request the workshop with WYDOT, and return a revised draft at the June 30 voucher meeting. WYDOT’s public comment deadline had been extended to July 8, staff noted.

Quotes and attributions in this story come from public comment and on‑record statements during the June 23, 2025 Teton County Board of County Commissioners meeting.