JACKSON, Wyo. — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) has agreed to enter a contract with a consulting firm to perform a transporation safety analysis and update the “High Injury Network” within the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
At the BCC meeting on Tuesday, commissioners voted unanimously to approve the Owner/Consultant Agreement with Kimley-Horn and Associates for no more than $115,379, with Commissioner Wes Gardner absent. According to the staff report, this step is meant to serve as a building block in the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) work by incorporating recent crash data, evaluating priority locations, and developing actionable safety improvements. Teton County Transportation Manager Charlotte Frei presented the contract, which was requested by the BCC after the July car crash on Teton Pass that caused two fatalities.
“We were principally motivated by those fatalities on July 7, but I agree that we need to look at safety county-wide,” Commissioner Luther Propst said at the meeting. “But I want to make sure that we don’t underemphasize the Pass, which has such a long history of … serious accidents.”
The consulting firm will provide numerous reports throughout the contract, including an updated High Injury Network by April 2027. Priority locations for safety improvements, or “countermeasures,” will be identified by June. A final report with cost estimates and recommendations will be complete in September.
The proposed approach offers a detailed methodology for updating the High Injury Network. Historical crash analysis data from the Wyoming Department of Transportation will be summarized, and locations with higher-than-expected crash frequencies will be identified within the network.
The firm will then identify eight to 10 priority locations with high injury and fatality rates, high crash rates, and the greatest potential for safety improvements. The contract will deliver a diagnosis of crash and safety risk factors and the development of countermeasures for near, mid and long-term time frames. Possible pedestrian safety measures could look like raised crosswalks, a pedestrian refuge island in the middle of the road, and curb extensions, depending on the configuration of the roadway.
“We’ll look at previous plans, what was recommended in those plans, and why or why not were those recommendations implemented, and then – can we improve upon those recommendations?” Frei explained. She later added that the involved agencies will work to “understand how we can move good recommendations forward.”
