Teton County commissioners voted to advance the 90% design for the Wilson Active Transportation Improvements (the downtown Wilson multimodal plan) and directed staff to move the project to final design and bidding, saying the package balances community safety, multimodal access and wildlife concerns.

The multimodal plan — developed through a multi‑year public process and approved conceptually by the board in February 2022 — calls for three travel lanes on Wyoming Highway 22 through downtown Wilson, separated pedestrian/bicycle pathways on both sides of the highway, formalized driveway accesses, bus pullouts and other traffic‑calming and streetscape measures. At the 90% design stage staff reported a construction cost estimate of about $3.75 million, plus roughly $450,000 for temporary easements and $450,000 for construction administration, producing a planning total of about $4.65 million. Project funding identified to date totals roughly $4.2 million, leaving an approximate shortfall of $450,000.

Why it matters: Commissioners and the public framed the decision as a tradeoff among safety for people walking and bicycling, business access and wildlife permeability in a section of highway used by an estimated 10,000–16,000 vehicles a day. Supporters said the pathways and crossings will make the corridor safer and encourage transit use; opponents cautioned the design risks harming wildlife movement and altering Wilson’s small‑town character if walls and railings are built.

Key directions adopted by the board
- Keep the north‑ and south‑side pathways through the downtown core, but allow constrained sections to be reduced to 8 feet where right‑of‑way or utilities make 10 feet infeasible, with engineers to identify site‑specific limits.
- Retain bus turnouts/pullouts in Wilson to preserve existing and planned transit service rather than forcing buses to stop in a travel lane.
- Eliminate proposed tall retaining walls and continuous safety railings where feasible by changing grading and drainage patterns (a staff redesign will shift some drainage to adjacent parcels with property owner cooperation); board directed staff to avoid walls where possible to preserve wildlife permeability and aesthetics.
- On Edmonson Springs, adopt a hybrid approach: keep a retaining wall on the north side to avoid additional wetland impacts and use a graded or short‑wall solution on the south side where feasible, subject to permitting and property owner agreement.
- Keep the 90% plan’s surface and pathway approach as the baseline but explore colored or stamped surface treatments (including stamped asphalt or colored concrete) at selective locations to slow users and reinforce a “town” character; staff will report comparative costs during final design.

Public comment and wildlife: More than 30 people spoke during a long public comment period, including residents, business owners, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Friends of Pathways and START transit. Wildlife organizations repeatedly urged minimizing walls, railings and landscape treatments that attract browsing near the roadway. Staff and commissioners highlighted options to reduce grading and railings to improve permeability for moose and elk while still providing continuous paths for people.

Design tradeoffs: Staff explained YDOT will control the highway cross‑section and that the department had agreed to narrower travel lanes (11 feet) and a smaller shoulder than typical state sections — concessions staff said were central to preserving a tighter, traffic‑calmed street in Wilson. Commissioners noted the project may require additional funding to close the current shortfall and authorized staff to pursue final engineering and permitting while seeking necessary grant or local match funds.

Next steps: Commissioners directed staff to finalize the design documents incorporating the board’s guidance, to continue outreach with property owners where drainage and grading adjustments are needed, and to submit the final package to WYDOT for project approvals. The board did not set a separate adoption condition beyond the design adjustments it requested.

Votes at a glance: The board moved to approve the project and advance to final design; the motion carried unanimously.

Ending: Commissioners and staff thanked citizens and partner agencies for extensive public input, and said the project will return in final form for contract bidding once engineering, easement negotiations and funding are finalized.