Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WORLAND — Washakie County and the City of Worland are combining resources to help pay for a Washakie Avenue reconnaissance report, for a total cost of $2,950.
Both the commissioners and the city council approved motions at their respective meetings last Tuesday to split the costs, rather than use Urban Systems funding.
During the council meeting Feb. 18, city engineering representative Mike Donnell said that the local Urban Systems committee found out during a recent meeting that they need to move on to the next step, a reconnaissance report, following the main study on the avenue that was completed in 2016.
The recon report, Donnell said is the first step WYDOT [Wyoming Department of Transportation] does on every highway project that they do. It looks at total length of a project, width, total number of approaches. It’s a fairly quick thing, maybe 10 pages.”
He said the local committee argued with WYDOT that everything needed for the recon report can be found in the corridor study from 2016; however they found out that WYDOT had closed out the previous project so they have to find a new engineer and complete the reconnaissance report. He said there is the possibility of using the same engineering firm DOWL out of Sheridan. Three firms must be considered during the selection process, Donnell said.
Donnell said the committee recommended not using Urban Systems funding. He explained about splitting the costs with the county, “If we use any of the Urban Systems money, we start the clock with the federal highway system. Once you start the clock, you’re kind of under the gun to make sure you get these things done. There are [five] options [outlined in the 2016 corridor study], and not one of them is cheap. It’s not a cheap thing to rebuild all the way from Railway Avenue to 23rd Street.”
Donnell said Washakie Avenue was first known as the South County Highway with its primary job to take farm products all the way south and east of the city to the factory. “And it still does that. It’s a farm to market road. Now it’s a half city road and half county road,” he said, with the city owning the half on the north side and the county owning the south side of the road.
The plans ranged from $5.5 million to $13 million. In 2018, City Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz said the city had $630,000 in the Federal Urban Systems fund, with the city receiving $103,000 annually.
The purpose of the corridor study in 2016 was to “evaluate alternatives to improve the safety of Washakie Avenue from Railway Avenue to County Road 11.”
The alternatives included:
•Do nothing.
•Consider an alternative route in Lane 13
•Consider an alternative route in Lane 12 ½
•Reconstruct Washakie Avenue with Sage Creek in a creek cross section next to the roadway with a bike path south of Sage Creek.
• Reconstruct Washakie Avenue with Sage Creek in a box culvert.
According to the study by DOWL, “Each alternative was ranked based on network connectivity, pedestrian safety, ability to accommodate truck traffic, impacts to private land, impacts to cultural/environmental resources, ability to address issues with Sage Creek, and ability to accommodate future development.
“The study recommends rebuilding Washakie Avenue from Railway Avenue to 15th Street as the highest priority. This roadway would be built as a collector roadway, with two lanes of through traffic, a parking lane, curb and gutter and sidewalk on the north side of the street. The roadway would have no parking on the south side of the street and a separated bike path south of Sage Creek. Sage Creek should be improved to enhance the bike path and Sage Creek flooding problems.”
There were also alternatives for the recommendation for rebuilding Washakie Avenue to 23rd Street and up to Road 11.