Temporary road to be built around Teton Pass slide

JACKSON, Wyo. (KIFI) - The Wyoming Department of Transportation is looking at building a temporary road around the slide area on the Teton Pass.

WYDOT said geologists and engineers are confident they can build the road by using fill material and pave two lanes.

A portion of the highway collapsed Saturday morning leaving a large gap at milepost 12.8.

WYDOT said they hope to have the detour open in a few weeks with some weight and width restrictions.

“I want to express my gratitude to WYDOT Director Westby and his entire team for their efforts to rapidly develop and implement a plan to get traffic moving over Teton Pass again as quickly as possible,” Governor Mark Gordon said.

Geologists and engineers are evaluating the area and putting together a long term plan to rebuild the road, they said. There is no current estimated timeline for that construction. WYDOT will be flying the area with a survey plane and doing some geological drilling in preparation for the reconstruction, they said.

Officials say they are also working with the US Forest Service to provide access to access camps sites unaffected by the landslide and the mudslide at milepost 15.

Gov. Mark Gordon has declared an emergency in response to the slides. The declaration helps the state with additional resources from the Federal Highway Administration to begin repairs.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on a social media post Sunday that the Department of Transportation will help with the reconstruction of the Teton Pass.

In the meantime, drivers heading between Victor, Idaho, and Wilson, Wyoming, will need to use Idaho 31, US Highways 26-89-191 to get around the closure. Depending on traffic, this trip could take an hour and 40 minutes.

You can find a list of resources from WYDOT and other community information here.