A “catastrophic failure” of Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass overnight Friday has washed away a huge section of the lifeline corridor between Jackson, Wyoming, and Victor, Idaho, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reports.
No vehicles were on the road as it had been closed earlier Friday because of a mudslide.
Road troubles began Thursday after a large crack stretching across both highways was spotted in the road.
A significant portion of the highway at milepost 12.8 has collapsed into the ravine below, while significant portions of the remaining road are cracked and tilted, WYDOT reports, adding that the road faces a long, indefinite closure.
Advertisement
“We’re looking at a few weeks, at the very least,” Stephanie Harsha, a spokeswoman for WYDOT District 3, told Cowboy State Daily on Saturday morning. “At this point, a temporary fix or any kind of detour would be just as cumbersome and costly as a rebuilding the road or another more permanent fix. Our engineers are kind of weighing out those options right now.”
Signs Of Trouble
Teton Pass temporarily closed on Thursday so WYDOT could patch the large highway-spanning crack reported earlier that day. When road crews inspected the damaged section of Highway 22 on Friday, the pavement patch had been damaged and more movement was detected.
“That landslide continued to move despite efforts to put in a temporary detour around it,” Harsha said. “That movement caused it to take out both lanes of travel on that particular section.”
WYDOT road crews attempted to repair and rectify the damage while developing a long-term solution. They were on the scene overnight when the destructive landslide happened.
“Our crews were working in the area last night to construct that detour,” she said. “Nobody was hurt, and no equipment was damaged, but the road is damaged to a point where I don’t believe that there’ll be a quick or detour.”
Advertisement
Highway 22 was closed for most of Friday because of a mudslide that covered both lanesnear milepost 15. WYDOT spent most of the day clearing the road, but reported that the mudslide “breached the roadway with mud and debris, overwhelming the channeled drainage ditch and culvert.”
A “catastrophic failure” of Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass overnight Friday saw a huge section wash down the mountain. A long closure of the “lifeline” between Jackson and Victor, Idaho, is expected. (Wyoming Department of Transportation)
A “catastrophic failure” of Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass overnight Friday saw a huge section wash down the mountain. A long closure of the “lifeline” between Jackson and Victor, Idaho, is expected. (Wyoming Department of Transportation)
A mudslide at about 4:20 a.m. Thursday morning has shut down Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass at milepost 15. The closure comes less than 24 after a large two-lane crack in the pavement of the highway closed the pass for a few hours. (WYDOT Teton County via Facebook)
Large cracks appeared on Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass on Thursday, prompting it to close for several hours. (WYDOT Teton County via Facebook)
No Easy Alternatives
With Teton Pass closed until further notice, commuters who regularly travel along the primary route between Jackson and Victor will need to find an alternative route. The best workaround is to travel south through Alpine, Wyoming. That takes an hour and 45 minutes compared to the 35 minutes it takes over the pass.
Harsha knows that will be difficult for many.
“That’s such a difficult thing for this area,” she said. “Teton Pass is a lifeline for people who commute and work in and out of the Jackson area. Depending on where you live, especially on the Idaho side, most people detour around Swan Valley and then into Alpine, Wyoming, and come up Jackson from the south.”
WYDOT will share any updates on the status of Teton Pass through its website and social media channels, in addition to the WYDOT 511 app.
“Our engineers are evaluating the area, and they should come up with a plan forward as far as what we’re going to do in repairing that section,” Harsha said.
Advertisement
The alternative route between Jackson, Wyoming, and Victor, Idaho, with Teton Pass closed takes about an hour and 45 minutes, compared to 35 mintues over the pass. (Cowboy State Daily Staff)
What About A Tunnel?
The closure sparked an immediate conversation on social media about the need to build a tunnel through Teton Pass.
Although the possibility of such a tunnel is remote, the Wyoming Department of Transportation has discussed it before.
Former WYDOT Director Luke Reiner told Cowboy State Daily in 2021 that he had it on his wish list of projects that he hoped would be covered by President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan.
Reiner said there was a feasibility study of such a project. It never went anywhere, but he said there were real benefits to it.
“One, it avoids the avalanche-prone area, and that would help really make that road more passable,” he said, pointing out that in a part of the state where the cost of living is outlandish for workers, that stretch of highway plays an important role in the economy by getting workers to and from their jobs.
“It’s not lost on us that that has become a major commuter route for employees who work in Jackson and live in Idaho,” Reiner said. “The average daily traffic on that road is one of the highest in our state.”
Advertisement
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — The Casper City Council voted Tuesday to approve on first reading a zoning change for a vacant 2.4-acre parcel located at 1530 SE Wyoming Boulevard, transitioning the property from residential to commercial use.
The ordinance reclassifies Lot 4 of the Methodist Church Addition from Residential Estate to General Business. Located between East 15th and East 18th streets, the irregular-shaped property has remained undeveloped since it was first platted in 1984.
While original plans for the subdivision envisioned a church and an associated preschool, Community Development Director Liz Becher reported those projects never materialized.
According to Becher, the applicant sought the rezoning to facilitate the potential installation of a cell tower or an off-premises sign. Under the new C-2 designation, a cell tower up to 130 feet in height is considered a permitted use by right, though any off-premises sign would still require a conditional use permit from the Planning and Zoning Commission. The applicant also owns the adjacent lot to the north, which the city rezoned to general business in 2021.
Becher said the change aligns with the “Employment Mixed Use” classification in the Generation Casper comprehensive land use plan. This designation typically supports civic, institutional and employment spaces.
Advertisement
Despite the new zoning, the property remains subject to a subdivision agreement that limits traffic access. Entry and exit are restricted to right turns onto or from East 15th Street, and no access is permitted from East 18th Street.
The council will vote on two more readings of the ordinance before it is officially ratified.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Two men were detained in Wyoming in connection with a fatal shooting at a downtown Salt Lake hotel that killed one man.
Carlos Chee, 23, and Chino Aguilar, 21, were both wanted for first-degree felony murder after the victim, identified as Christian Lee, 32, was found dead in a room at the Springhill Suites near 600 South and 300 West.
According to warrants issued for their arrest, Chee and Aguilar met with Lee and another woman at the hotel to sell marijuana. During the alleged drug deal, Aguilar allegedly shot and killed Lee after he tried to grab at his gun.
MORE | Shootings
Investigators said they found Lee dead in the room upon arrival, as well as a single shell casing on the floor and a small amount of marijuana on the television stand.
Advertisement
The woman told investigators she had met Chee on a dating app and that he agreed to come to the hotel to sell her marijuana. She had been hanging out with him in the room, which Lee rented for her to use, when Lee asked them to leave. Lee was then shot and killed following a brief confrontation.
Chee and Aguilar allegedly fled the scene in a 2013 Toyota Camry with a Texas license plate that was later found outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming just a few hours later.
The two men were taken into custody and detained at the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.
ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming (KUTV) — A man was hospitalized with critical injuries after he was reportedly shot by a deputy responding to reports of a disturbance.
Deputies with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Rock Springs Police Department responded to the Sweetwater Heights apartment complex in the 2100 block of Century Boulevard just after 4 a.m. on Monday to investigate reports of a disturbance involving an armed individual.
Information that dispatch received indicated that the individual had shot himself. When officials arrived, they found the individual on the balcony of an upstairs apartment “who appeared to have a gunshot wound consistent with the initial report,” a press release states.
MORE | Officer-Involved Shooting
During the encounter, a deputy discharged their weapon and struck the individual.
Advertisement
Emergency medical personnel rendered aid, and the individual was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.
No law enforcement officers or members of the public were injured during the incident.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an independent investigation.
The deputy who fired their weapon was placed on administrative leave per standard protocol.
