WYDOT lays out $84 million in Park County STIP projects and a Wind River Canyon resiliency study

Pete Halston, district engineer for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, told the Park County Board of Commissioners the agency is moving early this year to gather local input for the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. "The main purpose of our meeting today is to solicit public input," Halston said, adding WYDOT wants comments before projects are placed in the STIP.

Randy Merritt, WYDOT district construction engineer, said the department expects to let "a little over $400,000,000 worth of projects" statewide and identified about $84 million in Park County programs over the next five to six years. "Over the next, few years out through 2031, transportation projects here in Park County, we're looking at spending a little over 66,000,000," Merritt said, with additional transit and aeronautics funds bringing the county total to roughly $84 million.

WYDOT highlighted a federally funded resiliency study of the Wind River Canyon intended to identify redundant routes and strengthen a "system‑critical link" between the Upper and Lower Basins. Halston said the study, supported through a federal RAISE grant, will examine alternatives within roughly 50 miles of the corridor and include tribal and local outreach.

Local items on WYDOT’s list include a pedestrian crossing and restriping on Highway 14A, approach realignment at the Albertsons entrance in Powell and a planned overlay from Blairs to Ralston expected to be let in mid‑February. Jack Hoffman, WYDOT district traffic engineer, said local speed and sight‑distance reviews do not yet meet traffic‑signal warrants at a Powell intersection where citizens asked for a signal.

WYDOT encouraged residents to use the agency’s STIP web tools and QR codes to review project maps and submit comments. "When you get the presentation, you can snap on that," Merritt said, describing the QR code that links to the district’s project information and comment forms. The agency will produce additional in‑person public meetings through the spring and summer as the STIP is refined.

The update included a reminder that federal‑state funding proportions and rising construction costs are shaping priorities, with WYDOT signaling it will focus limited dollars on national highway system routes if purchasing power shrinks. The presentation closed with an invitation to contact WYDOT staff listed in the packet for project‑level questions.