The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) was awarded a 2022 Environmental Excellence Award (EEA) in the category of Ecosystems, Habitat, and Wildlife from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The award was for the agency's efforts on the Snake River Bridge reconstruction and wildlife crossing integration project, and was one of 14 conferred nationwide in a variety of environmental categories.
WYDOT, along with their partners from the Wyoming Game and Fish, Teton County and other community organizations, designed a project for the replacement of a critical bridge on Wyoming Highway 22 over the Snake River, near Jackson. The bridge was expanded to accommodate local and migrating wildlife within the Greater Yellowstone National Park ecosystem.
WYDOT proactively pursued stakeholder and community outreach to strategically address a diverse set of challenges, including wildlife-vehicle collisions and congestion. The project will extend the Snake River Bridge to accommodate a wildlife underpass and will include three additional wildlife crossings that will facilitate safer wildlife movements, especially for large animals such as moose, elk, and deer. As a result, FHWA cited “WYDOT’s exemplary achievement” and “extensive stakeholder collaboration, community engagement, and environmental considerations."
Additional improvements are also being implemented to enhance recreation and natural resource education in the nearby Rendezvous Park. This includes increasing wetlands along ponds, constructing a boardwalk and deepening a community swimming hole.
“We appreciate the recognition and affirmation from the FHWA that this is a special project that will benefit not just the transportation of motorists but of wildlife, too,” said WYDOT director Luke Reiner. “I am grateful to our partners who were instrumental in shaping this project into an award-winning success.”
The Snake River Bridge project will be let to contract in the fall, with construction set to begin in spring 2023.
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Source: Wyoming Department of Transportation
