JACKSON, Wyo. — While Teton County works to iron out the logistics for the Teton Pass Trail construction, the local fundraising campaign effort to raise $5 million gets another extension until at least the end of February.
In September, the BCC contemplated pulling the plug on the final connecting pathway between Victor, Idaho, and Jackson due to cost. Ultimately the BCC passed a motion that utilizes a combination of federal grants and about $1.5 million in local funds to continue work on the last link of the pathway. However, using only federal grants and local funds would not allow the project to be completed in full, so the Commissioners set a Dec. 31 deadline to raise $5 million in private philanthropic contributions in hopes of finishing the whole stretch of pathway.
Tim Young, a volunteer with the coalition Save Teton Pass Trail (STPT), told Buckrail that the campaign has raised over $1 million from 400 different donors. Young said the organization is having final discussions with a few more donors in Wilson that could bring the total close to $1.5 million.
“Every gift will go toward construction and take us another foot or another mile toward the goal,” Young said.
STPT is working to update its website and get some more advertisements out to let people know the campaign is still open for donations. Young said there is a benefit to completing the whole project now if sufficient funds can be raised.
“For one, it would be done and things would be safer starting very soon,” Young said. “That’s the most dangerous stretch of highway we have in Teton County right now, if you’re a walker or skier or biker. … There’s efficiency to doing it in one project. I think it’s really worth pushing ahead to see if we can raise a little more money.”
The Teton Pass Trail is one initiative within the Teton BUILD Grant, along with the Stilson Transit Center, the Driggs Transit Center and more. The final link in the Teton Pass Trail includes a pathway from the Trail Creek Campground near the Idaho/Wyoming state line to the Coal Creek parking area, with a pedestrian underpass connecting the pathway to the parking lot. If enough money can be saved and raised to complete the project in full, it will unlock another $1 million grant from the Federal Lands Access Program.
Teton County Director of Public Works Heather Overholser told Buckrail that the county plans to hire a construction manager at risk (CMAR) to help during the final planning process. A CMAR is a consultant typically hired by the owner of the project to ensure that the design is as efficient and realistic as possible. This position is held by a construction expert or construction firm that will hold the risk for keeping the project under a guaranteed maximum price. Overholser will present to the Teton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) on Feb. 17 before hiring the CMAR, then she will present a contract on Feb. 23.
“[The CMAR] will immediately come on board and we’ll work with them over the next few months,” Overholser said. “They will competitively bid all the different aspects of the project, then hopefully by May or early June we can be under construction.”
One of the ways the county plans to save money on the project is by using a large pile of fill material left over from the Big Fill Landslide construction on Teton Pass. Overholser said the material, which is in a pile on the west side of the Pass, was tested and approved for the project. Overholser also noted that once the CMAR is onboarded, they will work to discover exactly how much money there is for the project and how much of the pathway can be built.
