July 13, 2023 |
Photo – Map of I-80/I-25 Interchange in Cheyenne – Courtesy WYDOT
If you’ve ever driven to Cheyenne you may be haunted about the I-80 to I-25 interchange. It’s a fast, tight, loop-de-loop with little room for error as on-ramp and off-ramp traffic jockeys with one another in a short distance at fast speeds after hundreds of miles of safe distance.
Who designed that mousetrap? It will all change soon. WYDOT receives federal funding to redesign the Cheyenne I-80 interchange.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation was awarded a $13 million dollar Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, grant. WYDOT Public Affairs Officer Jordan Aches said the RAISE grant will be used to redesign the obsolete intersection where Interstates 80 and 25 meet in Cheyenne.
The RAISE grant is a federal program that awards money for road improvement projects with a significant regional impact. The program has been in effect under different names since 2009. Congress has set aside over $12 billion for the program over the past 14 years. The program was expanded under President Biden’s 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The most recent round of RAISE grants was announced on June 28. More than $2.2 billion was awarded to 162 different infrastructure projects across the country, including the Cheyenne interchange redesign.
In its current form, the intersection of I-80 and I-25 is designed in a cloverleaf pattern. Aches said traffic share exit and entrance lanes which can be dangerous. The WYDOT public affairs officer said the $13 million grant will be used to produce a safer layout.
Aches said vehicles must slowdown from 70 to 20 mph to safely navigate the cloverleaf’s tight curves. The WYDOT public affairs officer said she doesn’t have precise crash statistics, but semi-trucks are most at risk of having an accident while entering and exiting the interchange. She said reducing accidents is the motivating reason for the redesign.
Aches explained a potential redesign for the cloverleaf where traffic would have a longer approach to and from the intersection. The WYDOT public affairs officer said the grant money will be used to find the most efficient solution.
Aches said the RAISE grant gives WYDOT four years to complete the Cheyenne interchange redesign. The WYDOT public affairs officer said the project could be completed before then.
With the redesign phase scheduled to last until 2027, it is safe to assume that construction on the Cheyenne I-80 and I-25 interchange won’t happen for many years.
