WYDOT talks funding, future projects

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EVANSTON — Road repair is still going for the foreseeable future while WYDOT tries to keep up with major repairs. 

Representatives for District 3 of the Wyoming Department of Transportation presented a meeting about the 2017 State Transportation Improvement Program on June 14. Individuals from around the city and county attended as well. 

District engineer Keith Compton opened the presentation by saying FAST Act funding (a five-year funding program passed by Congress in 2015) is slightly up due to inflation, and the basic highway formula is unchanged. 

WYDOT draws funds from the federal government and the state, and this year the department expects to receive $633 million. The vast majority of that — $296 million — comes from federal aid, with the rest mostly coming from fuel taxes, registrations and AML (federal funds with some strings attached). 

This year, Compton said, the Wyoming Legislature increased vehicle registration fees for the first time since 1974 or 1975. Those increases (between $13-$30) should replace the general fund contribution to WYDOT. 

Gasoline and diesel taxes are also significant; both bring 24 cents per gallon, and for 2017, the gasoline tax brought in $81.2 million and diesel $92.1 million. Of those 24 cents per gallon, one penny goes to LUST (leaking underground storage tank) for cleaning up underground leaks and varied amounts go to counties, cities, county road construction and the highway fund (see Figure 1). 

Compton said it is “very much a user tax,” adding that the funds are intended to go where the roads are most used. 

Because Wyoming fuel taxes are less than in other states, Wyoming Sen. Paul Barnard wondered if it is possible to increase the gas tax (a two-cent increase would bring in $12 million). 

Compton then said WYDOT’s expenditures this year will go mostly toward highway improvement ($331.5 million), but other parts of the budget go to law enforcement, aeronautics, regular/special maintenance/operations and more. 

In response to a question from Barnard, Compton said that this year was the first time in a while that Wyoming Highway Patrol was fully staffed, as there is a high turnover. 

Continuing with the presentation, Compton said construction costs have increased to the point that $3.50 today will do what $1 did in 1989. It costs $150,000-$450,000 per center line mile just for maintenance and preventative rehabilitation, and the costs climb as work becomes more in-depth. Concrete reconstruction is the most expensive at $4.8-$6.6 million, although WYDOT is seriously looking at installing concrete on the interstate.

“Concrete will hold up better under that traffic load and frequency,” Compton said. 

WYDOT has also focused on pavement preservation rather than highway improvement since 2015, although it will have to fix isolated issues. 

“Construction funding would need to increase by $64 million per year for WYDOT to maintain the roads in their current condition,” he said. 

Evanston resident Jay Ellingford said, regarding road rutting, that he suggested years ago that lane lines be changed to extend the life of the roadway. 

“It’s an interesting concept,” Compton responded. “... But you’re right, we haven’t tried that.” 

He noted that roads don’t have rutting issues without truck traffic, then moved on to bridges and culverts, saying that culverts have caught WYDOT off guard and several bridges have become emergency situations. The state owns nearly 1,959 bridges, and with the funding available, each bridge can generally only be repaired once every 29 years. 

Ellingford said many bridges were designed to last for 25 years but are pushing 50 years. 

Compton then explained that District 3 reaches from Uinta County to Teton County (including Evanston to Rock Springs and halfway to Rawlins, as well as Kemmerer, Afton, Pinedale, Jackson and Grand Teton National Park) and expects $87 million to work with this year.

Ellingford was also concerned about interchange landscaping, saying the western side of the state has less beautification than the eastern side. Compton explained that landscaping is typically done with the cities. 

Barnard said that, when he was on the city council, there was a program that offered some money to help with sidewalks, and Compton said the available funds are highly competitive. 

Resident engineer Damon Newsome then talked about Uinta County. He said that from this year through 2023, WYDOT expects to spend $34.8 million on pavement and $6.2 million on bridges. 

There are some particular major projects in the works for the next several years. This year, WYDOT will overlay I-80 to Urie/WYO 414 from milepost 94-96.69; install variable speed limit (VSL) signs and dynamic message signs (DMS) from Evanston to the Utah line; and mill and overlay and do bridge rehabilitation in Lyman from milepost 39.21-49.06. 

In 2018, WYDOT will level and overlay four miles of Milburn Road WYO 411 and in 2019 will mill and overlay eight miles of the Granger road and a little more than eight miles of US 189 from Kemmerer to Lazeart Junction/Muddy Creek. In 2020, WYDOT expects to replace the Sulphur Creek bridge and to mill, overlay and install a right-of-way fence at the Evanston Hilliard Flat. 

Looking out even further into the future, WYDOT will mill, level and overlay WYO 414 from Mountain View to Lonetree with pipe cleaning and, in 2024, will mill, overlay and do ADA upgrades for Harrison Drive in Evanston. 

Evanston resident Susan Gerrard said she has heard concerns about Yellow Creek Road/6th Street, as the ambulance station is on one side and the hospital is on the other, so there could be problems if traffic were jammed up. However, widening the road would require redoing the interstate bridge. 

Newsome said that project would have to start with the city. 

Uinta County Sheriff Doug Matthews expressed frustration with the road closure practices, referring to the most recent storm that closed the interstate. He said that the storm was in Cheyenne, but Evanston was overrun with trucks even though they could have sent at least 200 trucks safely to Fort Bridger to ease the traffic, and Utah wouldn’t stop sending the trucks, either. He said that it becomes a safety issue because neither ambulances nor plows can get through.

“We just get plastered with trucks and can’t even move,” he said. 

Compton there is no physical closure over by Fort Bridger, which is why the trucks aren’t sent on, but Matthews said that county law enforcement could potentially enforce the closures, and Compton said maybe there should be a physical closure there as well for dry road closures. 

Matthews also said that if Park City gets a closure gate, it would be better. 

There were also concerns about interstate exits (including accessibility and beautification), how the speed on the VSL signs is determined, to which the response is that speed is sometimes reduced well in advance of the actual road condition, and that the speed is also controlled in Cheyenne according to a formula, as well as other concerns.