June 28, 2024 |
Photo – Collapsed highway near Jackson Hole – Bigfoot99 file photo
Teton Pass in western Wyoming is on track to reopen today, less than a month after a bend in the roadway slid off in a landslide on June 7th.
No one was injured in the slide, but the 8,431 foot pass that commuters in Idaho to their jobs in Jackson Hole has been impassable.
The road is expected to open today to all traffic, including semi-trucks weighing up to 60,000 lbs. a 20 mph speed limit will be in place through the detour.
Keith Fulton described the slow down point as “better than a big detour.”
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon thanked all who helped in the monumental task to rebuild the pass so quickly
Since the slide, daily commuters from nearby Victor, Idaho have had to drive an extra 62 miles to their usual 24-mile ride over the pass to work in Jackson. The detour added four of five hours to some commutes round trip.
The new section has an 11.5% grade, steeper than the old road’s 10%.
WYDOT engineers expressed confidence this week with the detour that was built so quickly to accommodate the daily commuters.
Engineers said the saturated embankment and saturated soils contributed to the failure. The roadway over the pass originally built in the 1970s.
Permanent reconstruction will likely cost $30 million or more with most of the tab picked up by Washington, D.C.
Crews have been working 24/7 for the last three weeks to build the detour and get traffic rolling for the busy tourist season in Jackson.
The detour road is to open midday Friday around the Big Fill landslide at milepost 12.8.
