WYDOT confident it can build ‘temporary detour’ around Teton Pass slide area
(The Center Square) – Wyoming transportation officials believe a temporary detour can be built around where Highway 22 in Teton Pass collapsed once the area is secured, the Department of Transportation said on Monday.
The pass, which connects Jackson, Wyoming to Victor, Idaho, was closed Thursday following a landslide that caused cracking in the road. On Saturday, the roadway at milepost 12.8 collapsed.
The closure should be considered extended, WYDOT said in a statement Monday. Travelers must take a detour around the area using U.S. 26, which can take an extra hour to an hour and a half.
“Currently, WYDOT geologists and engineers are confident they can build a safe, temporary detour around the slide area using local fill material and paving two temporary lanes,” the agency said. “They are hoping to have a temporary detour open to the public, likely with some strict weight and width restrictions, in a few weeks.”
Gov. Mark Gordon declared a state of emergency following the collapse on Saturday, directing transportation resources and personnel to mobilize.
“We’re looking at all the options we have,” Gordon said in an interview with Fox Weather on Monday morning. “Of course, that’s pretty obvious catastrophic failure, so that’s why I asked for the emergency declaration.”
“Hopefully in the next few days Wyoming’s [DOT] will have some really good ideas about ways to accommodate travelers as they come over Highway 22,” he added.
The state of Idaho is assisting Wyoming, and Gordon has also been in contact with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, he said.
“They called immediately, we started on our side and they started on theirs,” Idaho Transportation Department Operations Foreman Lucas Richins said in a statement Sunday. “It was a good team effort. We’re here to support on our side however we can to make it less strenuous.”
