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A critical highway linking Idaho and Wyoming has closed indefinitely after a portion of the road cracked and then collapsed in a “catastrophic landslide” Saturday, officials said.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in a post on Facebook there is no estimated timeline for reopening Teton Pass, which links Victor, Idaho, and Jackson, Wyoming.

The initial crack appeared Thursday morning across both lanes of travel, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) said in a post on Facebook at the time.

The crack across lanes dropped vertically roughly 8 inches in some places, causing unsafe driving conditions. A patch was put in place and traffic resumed until a mudslide in a different location on Friday closed the road.

Saturday morning, the roadway where the initial crack happened collapsed, WYDOT said, adding that the roadway had “catastrophically failed, and a long term closure is expected.”

“WYDOT crews, along with contract crews from Evans Construction, were working in the area to construct a detour around the damage, but the landslide continued to move, taking out the whole road,” WYDOT added. “No crews were hurt in the process, and no equipment was damaged.”

Gordon said Saturday that he had met with WYDOT and Wyoming Office of Homeland Security officials to coordinate a response to the “catastrophic landslide.”

“I am grateful for the efforts of WYDOT staff to protect public safety during this developing situation, and am thankful no one was injured during this incident,” the governor said.

Work to repair the cracked roadway and mudslide had been anticipated to last into Saturday, according to the Department of Transportation, and then the cracked section of the roadway collapsed.

“WYDOT engineers, surveyors and geologists mobilized quickly to try to maintain highway viability as long as possible, but catastrophic failure could not be avoided. WYDOT remains on site decisively engaged on fixing the road and restoring connectivity to the Teton Valley,” WYDOT Director Darin Westby said in a statement.

WYDOT says it is reviewing long term solutions and repairs to the highway and Westby urged the public to stay away from the site until it was stabilized.

The Teton Pass corridor “serves as a critical commuter route and facilitates the transport of goods and services that are lifelines to the growing regional economies in Wyoming and Idaho,” according to the US Department of Transportation.

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.

“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.”

Highway 22 was closed for most of Friday because of a mudslide that covered both lanes near 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.”

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.

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.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.

The billionaire owner of the Chicago Cubs is on a mission to rename a small Wyoming town where he plans to build a 56-acre high-end resort to the criticism and ire of the locals.

Joe Ricketts, the TD Ameritrade founder and patriarch of his family that purchased the MLB team in 2009, hopes to change Bondurant, Wyoming to Little Jackson Hole.

Ricketts, 82, has been on a recent push to build a 56-acre high-end resort on his 1,300-acre Jackson Fork Ranch property, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Homestead Resort, the proposed name for Ricketts’ retreat, was described as a “premium resort experience with a mission-driven focus on protecting, preserving and enjoying the natural beauty of the Hoback region,” the newspaper reported.

During a dinner several years ago, the former stockbroker chairman pitched his idea to rename the small town Little Jackson Hole as an homage to Davey Jackson, an American pioneer and explorer with several locations in the valley named after him.

The seven-course meal where Ricketts first floated the idea included “swag bags” for all guests.

The billionaire released a study where he wanted to examine the location name “JacksonLittle Hole” along with other variants including Little Jackson Hole.

“It also was to provide authoritative documentation of the usage of ‘Jackson’s Little Hole’ within the geographical area known today as Bondurant, Wyoming,” the study said.

Bondurant had a population of 152, according to a 2022 census.

The research found Jackson had two favorite hunting spots in the valley – Jackson’s (Big) Hole and Jackson’s Little Hole.

Jackson Hole is known for its upscale ski resorts, campgrounds and picturesque views — bordered by the jagged peaks of the Tetons.

Ricketts believes the name change would make the area more marketable, based on name recognition for those who already travel to the area.

The suggestion irked some citizens of the small town, which sits in Sublette County, 40 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park, who are angered by Rickett’s proposal for a tourist destination in the community.

“About 75% of the people all got up and left the dinner right then,” Pat Burroughs said. “They left the gift bags on the table and just walked out.”

“We are Bondurant,” she said firmly. “This is the Upper Hoback.”

Burroughs added that the change from Bondurant could bring confusion for delivery services.

“One gentleman even had trouble getting his medication,” the furious resident said. “He kept telling them he lives in Bondurant, but they were looking for someone in Little Jackson Hole.”

“It’s totally infuriating,” Burroughs said.

Richard Pearson, who claims to be the oldest lifelong resident of the Hoback Basin Valley, said the privacy of the community will vanish.

“I hate to see the change that this is going to bring to the private people who live in this valley,” Pearson told the newspaper. “You know, it’s going to be a completely different world in a few years once this, once everything gets going.”

Pearson complained that Ricketts had been buying several lands to add to his power to get the name change.

“He’s bought several places around here,” Pearson said. “It’s just like a cancer. He’s just sucking everything up. Anything that becomes available, he’s buying it.”

Apart from his Jackson Fork Ranch property, Ricketts recently purchased the White Pine Ski and Summer Resort, a 363-acre resort near Pinedale, 54 miles from Bondurant.

Last month he finalized a deal to buy the High Country Suites in Pinedale, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Ricketts had said he wanted to ensure White Pine remains a “strong part of the community, and continues the tradition of serving local residents.” the newspaper reported.