WYDOT reopens US 20/WYO 789 on Wednesday after Tuesday evening rock slide closes the road

Wyoming Department of Transportation personnel reopened US 20/WYO 789 through Wind River Canyon about 1 a.m. Wednesday after a rock slide closed the highway and destroyed about 100 feet of guardrail.

“The rock slide covered both driving lanes of the highway at the north end of Wind River Canyon, took out about 100 feet of guardrail, and damaged the highway shoulder,” said WYDOT area maintenance supervisor Clint Huckfeldt of Thermopolis. “The highway was closed for about 90 minutes.”

Huckfeldt encourages drivers to continue to monitor road conditions this spring by visiting the wyoroad.info road information web site or by calling 511.

“Please drive safely and buckle up,” Huckfeldt said.

In other news:

• WYDOT workers are transporting concrete barrier Wednesday and Thursday to the Lander area to begin preparing for possible spring flooding. The concrete barrier is currently stored in Rock Springs;
• A large slope failure slide on US 26/287 on Togwotee Pass continues to creep on to the highway about 10 miles east of Moran Junction (milepost 9.9), and maintenance crews are continuing to clean the slide area and monitor the slide. A reduced speed limit is also in place at two other Togwotee Pass-area slides near the Shoshone National Forest boundary west of Dubois (milepost 40). The slides have been patched but continue to move. WYDOT geologists are monitoring, analyzing and mapping the slides; and
• A slide on WYO 296 (Chief Joseph Scenic Highway) continues to move at milepost 26.1, about 20 miles west of WYO 296's intersection with WYO 120. WYDOT geologists are monitoring, analyzing and mapping this slide.

WYDOT District Engineer Pete Hallsten of Basin said the Chief Joseph Highway slide "is complex. Geologists have not yet identified the location of the slide plane."

WYDOT workers have placed water barrier in place of damaged guardrail at the slide site near Dead Indian Creek. “Two-way traffic is being moved near the slide area, up against the back slope to keep it off the slide. A reduced speed limit of 30 mph is in place,” Hallsten said.

For information about this news release, contact WYDOT public relations specialist Cody Beers at (307) 431-1803.