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Council, commission endorse technical comments to WYDOT on Highway 22; ask staff to draft cover letter
Summary
Town and county leaders asked staff to draft a joint cover letter to WYDOT reinforcing technical comments on Highway 22 design options and adding policy, environmental and right-of-way concerns ahead of WYDOT’s public open house and next steps in the NEPA process.
The Jackson Town Council and Teton County Commission reviewed a Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) memorandum giving technical feedback on WYDOT’s conceptual designs for Wyoming Highway 22 and directed staff to prepare a joint cover letter for WYDOT that would include policy and environmental concerns in addition to technical comments.
Charlotte Frey, the town’s transportation manager, summarized staff’s memo and the history of prior correspondence with WYDOT, saying the TAC has provided feedback on intersections and cross-section options and that WYDOT will present materials at a public open house June 4. Frey described the staff recommendation as a verbal endorsement of the TAC memo and suggested a cover letter could supplement technical comments.
Councilmembers and commissioners raised a range of concerns. Several elected officials asked staff to seek clarification from WYDOT on the practical design consequences of different “design speed” choices (for example, 35 vs. 45 mph) and the resulting lane widths and footprint impacts. Commissioner Gardner and others called for clearer language in the memo because a 45-mph design speed could lead to a substantially different roadway cross section than a 35-mph design speed. Frey said the TAC initially suggested a 45-mph threshold but later considered advocating for 35-mph if that was what produced the narrower cross sections the community prefers.
Several members asked staff to press WYDOT on context-sensitive design, protection of recreational pathways and existing conservation easements, and to identify whether particular sections of the corridor could trigger jurisdictional wetland impacts or require right-of-way acquisitions. Multiple speakers requested that staff include stronger language reiterating earlier joint comments encouraging WYDOT to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle travel when major projects use federal funds and to use “context sensitive” solutions.
Public commenters and representatives of local organizations supported sending clear guidance to WYDOT. Sam Petrie of Friends of Pathways urged frequent, early communication with WYDOT. Tim Young, a Wilson resident and steering committee member, urged that the county elements and rural villages be included in further study and urged supplemental planning funds to extend analysis beyond the town.
Staff told the boards it could draft a cover letter and return it to elected bodies for review in roughly two to three weeks; members asked that staff also find out whether WYDOT has a hard deadline for receiving comments prior to advancing options into the NEPA process.
Ending: The council and commission asked staff to prepare a draft cover letter that reiterates TAC technical comments and raises policy points — such as jurisdictional wetland impacts, conservation easements, context-sensitive design and design-speed implications — and to return with the draft for review and submission to WYDOT.
