A project on the Willwood that has been planned for years just took a big step forward.

At its Sept. 5 meeting commissioners (with Dossie Overfield abstaining) voted to accept Engineering Associates to perform professional engineering and land surveying for planned major improvements to the Willwood Road (County Lanes 13, 14, 15, Road 13 and Road 18) between Cody and Powell.

EA was selected over two other firms with a county pretense, Morrison-Maierle and Ardura.

“We’ve got some very good engineering firms to choose from,” Park County Engineer Brian Edwards said. “All three are local companies that provide a great service. It was a very tough choice for us, as we all have friends and mentors from all three firms.”

In the end, all six members of the committee gave the slight edge to EA.

“We took the firm we thought was the most qualified, most efficient and do the best job for us,’ Edwards said.

Commissioner Lloyd Thiel, who was on the selection committee, said he’d be confident with any of the three firms. 

The county will now negotiate on a final contract with EA, which will be tasked with developing the project.

According to county documents, these roads have long served as a “farm to market” route and have seen increased use since the relocated Willwood Dam bridge was completed in 2016. The Willwood Road connects U.S. Highway 14A with Wyo. Highway 295 south of Powell and involves roughly 10 miles of two-lane paved roadway. The county intends to improve this stretch of roadway to a secondary road classification which is used for a larger amount of traffic than it had been planned for previously.

The county public works department is considering constructing the project in two phases. The first phase will likely start at U.S. Highway 14A extending east to Road 13. The second phase will likely include Road 13 and will extend east to Wyo. Highway 295.

The county’s schedule includes site surveying, site investigations and design to be completed by March 1, 2024. The project is expected to be advertised in April and May 2024. The goal is to have a contractor selected and ready to start by June 1, 2024.

Ideally construction will be completed by Dec. 31, 2024, according to the public works. If the county elects to complete the project in two phases, the construction could extend into 2025.