The closures of U.S.Highway 20/Wyo. Highway 789 are needed to help a contractor safely bring a large rock off the canyon wall to the edge of the highway.
The highway was closed for two hours Tuesday afternoon while crews attempted to move the …
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Periodic one-hour and three-hour closures of the highway through the Wind River Canyon are planned in the afternoons and evenings today (Wednesday) and Thursday.
The closures of U.S.Highway 20/Wyo. Highway 789 are needed to help a contractor safely bring a large rock off the canyon wall to the edge of the highway.
The highway was closed for two hours Tuesday afternoon while crews attempted to move the rock.
“The rock we were trying to bring down has been more difficult than we anticipated,” said Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Kaia Tharp of Thermopolis.
One-hour road closures will take place at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., with an additional three-hour closure from 7-10 p.m. both days. The roadway will be reopened at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. each day to safely move traffic through the work zone.
“If the road needs to be cleared after 10 p.m., there will be a 20-minute delay with one-way traffic to accomplish the rock removal in a safe manner,” Tharp said.
The work zone where the rock and other debris are being removed is at milepost 117.2 inside Wind River Canyon, roughly 16 miles south of Thermopolis, or about halfway between Shoshoni and Thermopolis. Motorists are being informed of the closures in a number of ways, including through use of digital message signs near Shoshoni and Thermopolis.
Wilson Brothers Construction of Cowley is the prime contractor on the $600,000-plus effort to clean up rockfall from April and May falling rock and mudslides in Wind River Canyon.
Wyoming Department of Transportation District Engineer Pete Hallsten expects contract rock removal to be complete by the July 4 holiday.
“Work will be shut down in Wind River Canyon between July 1-4, and only a few more days of work are expected after the holiday,” Hallsten said.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience with this rockfall work,” Tharp added.