CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Highway safety and truck parking will be two issues addressed after the state of Wyoming was awarded federal grants recently.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) was recently awarded two competitive federal grant awards for highway safety improvements in the state, as outlined in a media release on Friday.
WYDOT received two awards from the US Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grant program, a highly competitive discretionary funding pool, in the same award cycle. With these two winning projects, WYDOT has received more than $172.8 million in competitive federal grants in the last five years.
“WYDOT wants to leverage as much grant funding as feasible to continue to provide quality and reliable infrastructure Wyomingites depend on every day,” said WYDOT Director Darin Westby. “Successful bids for competitive grants are a testament to our grant writing team, our engineers and our reputation for putting these dollars to good use for the people we serve.”
One of the winning projects involves building passing lanes and maintenance turnarounds, in addition to pavement rehabilitation, on US Highway 20/Wyoming Highway 789 along the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway, as well as on parts of US 20/26 between Shoshoni and Casper.
“Passing lanes on rural highways help alleviate congestion among the mix of commercial, tourist and residential traffic by providing safe places to pass,” said Westby. “Maintenance turnarounds also help Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers and snowplow drivers work more efficiently on long stretches of rural highways.”
The project is funded by a $24 million BUILD grant, $6.7 million from Gov. Mark Gordon’s Infrastructure Matching Funds, and $1 million from vehicle sales tax – a new funding source for the agency thanks to the 2025 Wyoming Legislature. The project is expected to be completed around July 2028.
The other winning project will allow WYDOT to compile and prioritize areas on the National Highway System in need of commercial truck parking, especially during prolonged winter closures on highways like Interstate 80. The Wyoming Winter Truck Parking Action Plan will be funded by a $1.44 million BUILD grant, which paired with state funds from WYDOT will bring the project cost to $1.8 million. The completion date is December 2028.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
