Teton County directs staff to seek removal of Teton Pass Trail from BUILD grant, weighs funding trade-offs

Teton County commissioners directed staff June 9 to prepare a revision request to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA)/U.S. Department of Transportation to remove the Teton Pass Trail from the county's BUILD grant package and to pursue additional coordination with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (YDOT).

The revision request would ask FTA Region 8 and FTA headquarters to consider removing the trail component; staff said the engineer's estimate is sufficient for that submittal and that a formal bid is not required for the revision, though a bid would produce a finalized cost and project package should the county later decide to proceed. Heather Overholser, Teton County director of public works, told the board: "So this is really in regard to the Teton Pass Trail." She said the county faces an uncertain federal funding environment and escalating local project costs.

Why this matters: The BUILD grant originally allocates about $5.1 million toward the Teton Pass Trail component, and staff said the full pathway project is estimated at roughly $12.4 million. Overholser told commissioners that if the trail is removed from the BUILD grant there are three possible federal outcomes: FTA could approve removing the trail and allow the $5.1 million to be reallocated to other BUILD components (the best case); FTA could require repayment of some previously reimbursed design funds (staff estimated roughly $150,000 as a potential reimbursement in a worst-case scenario); or FTA could recommend other actions including pulling the entire grant (unlikely, staff said).

Staff also told the board that the county recently received a $1,000,000 Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) award to fund the Coal Creek pedestrian underpass, and that FLAP explicitly requires that the underpass connect to the Teton Pass Trail. Overholser said: "If we don't build the Teton Pass Trail, we also forfeit the $1,000,000 from FLAP." She added that combining the underpass with the trail construction produced mobilization savings for the Coal Creek aquatic/fish-passage work, and that if the county drops the trail it would likely forgo those mobilization savings.

Commissioners and staff also linked the Teton Pass Trail decision to transit signal prioritization (TSP), another BUILD component that requires YDOT coordination. Overholser said FTA Region 8 advised the county to submit any revision request as a single package. She described YDOT feedback to date as mixed and said the county's consultant has prepared analysis that staff plans to present to YDOT in Cheyenne. Overholser told the board she is "trying to set up a meeting with [YDOT]" and that staff will bring recommendations to the joint boards, likely in August, after that coordination.

Board direction and next steps: Staff summarized the practical direction the board gave: schedule the Cheyenne meeting with YDOT (including the board chair if appropriate); proceed with a white-paper revision request to FTA asking to remove the Teton Pass Trail component without putting the project out to bid; and, after further YDOT input, bring a TSP recommendation to the joint boards in August. Overholser also said if commissioners want staff to pursue bids now (to lock costs and prepare a finished package), they must direct staff immediately because bids require additional time, easements (U.S. Forest Service), and pre-bid work.

Budget and risk context: Overholser told commissioners that the county has spent roughly $300,000 to date on planning and design for the trail and that a significant portion of that has already been reimbursed by FTA. She said the build grant's overall federal share target is no more than 80% (buses can be 85%), and that reallocating the $5.1 million could help cover cost escalations in other BUILD components such as the Stilson Transit Center. The county engineer indicated the trail design is at roughly 90% but that easements, final construction documents and bidding would still take months and additional expense.

Quotes from commissioners emphasized competing priorities. Commissioner Carlman urged redeploying funds to projects with higher benefit-cost scores; Commissioner Gardner said the Coal Creek underpass and fish-passage work were important public-safety and environmental priorities but questioned where the additional local match would come from if the county retained responsibility for the trail; Commissioner Probst asked whether removing the trail now would foreclose the county from building it later, and staff responded it would not.

Ending: Staff will prepare the revision white paper for FTA and schedule the YDOT meeting; commissioners asked for timely updates and signaled support for pursuing removal of the trail from the BUILD package as a path to redeploy federal dollars to higher-priority or higher-scoring BUILD components. The county plans to weigh bid timing, potential repayment risk, and the interconnected FLAP and fish-passage work before making a final submittal to FTA.