JACKSON, Wyo. — Heads up, drivers. Expect some highway congestion south of town over the next several weeks while the Flat Creek Bridge gets a facelift.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) has announced that its crews will be working with contract crews from Reiman Corp to repair the US 26/89/189/191 bridge over Flat Creek (between Whole Foods and Smith’s). Work will include partial removal of the bridge deck, replacement of sections of the deck and railing, other minor repairs and painting. Work is scheduled to begin on Monday, April 27, and wrap up by June 10.
The surrounding stretch of highway will be reduced from two lanes in each direction (plus one turning lane in the middle) to one lane of traffic in each direction.
“Crews will work on the west half of the bridge first for about three weeks,” WYDOT’s announcement states. “Once the west half of the bridge is complete, crews will switch work to the east side of the bridge.”
The agency advises travelers to avoid the area if possible, as delays during commuting hours are expected.
“When scheduling this work, we tried to avoid working during the heavy summer traffic season, which is why you are seeing this job prior to the tourist season,” WYDOT resident engineer Bob Hammond said.
Collaboration between WYDOT and the Town of Jackson aimed to keep the current Garaman Park pathway detour open while bridge work is underway. WYDOT noted that the pathway project is scheduled to be complete in early May. The agency said it “will continue to make every effort not to impact multi-modal access for local travelers during the work.”
Because concrete repairs must be made under certain temperature constraints, work schedules are dependent on weather and thus could change. WYDOT shared that crews have a 45-day window to complete the bridge project.
