JACKSON HOLE, WYO – The County Public Works Department has been working with WYDOT to come up with a plan of attack on replacing Cattleman’s Bridge on Spring Gulch Road. Everyone’s favorite downtown bypass has been made undoable since high waters this spring damaged the bridge significantly.
The bridge—and therefore the cutoff route that avoids downtown Jackson when traveling north-south—has been closed since June 8.
Since the bridge was due to be replaced anyway in 2018, with a bidding process scheduled to begin his fall in November. That has been moved up to October with the hopes a temporary one-lane bypass will be ready for use as early as late November of this year. The bypass will be signal-controlled similar to the current alternating traffic pattern on Gros Ventre Road between Highway 89 and Kelly. Once this bypass is in place, thru-traffic will be restored on Spring Gulch Road. The new two-lane bridge is estimated to be completed in the late summer or early fall of 2018.
“Safety has been and continues to be our number one priority,” said county engineer Sean O’Malley. “We understand the inconvenience that the closure imposes on residents and neighbors, and we sincerely appreciate their patience as we work to accelerate a solution in partnership with WYDOT.”
Since the original closure in early June, multiple engineers and contractors have evaluated the existing bridge. Options explored included fixing the existing bridge, constructing a separate bypass, requesting that the National Guard construct an emergency bypass, and waiting until the WYDOT project begins in October or November.
Options to build an additional bypass or repair the existing bridge were estimated to cost between $150,000 and $350,000, and would be completed by mid-September at the earliest. In addition, both would be removed several months later to allow for construction of the new bridge. To avoid such a high cost for a very temporary replacement, staff recommended to the Teton County Board of Commissioners that the county to wait until WYDOT constructs a temporary bypass.
