Public meeting Sept. 9 for West River Road bridges replacement project

WORLAND - A public meeting has been scheduled for Sept. 9 concerning a 2021-22 project to reconstruct three bridges on WY433 near Worland.

The 6:30 p.m. public meeting will be held at the Washakie County Fairgrounds. Citizens and area landowners/farmers/ranchers are invited to attend.

The 2021-22 project will replace 3 bridges and reconstruct the roadway on West River Road between mileposts 4.14 and 5.5.

"The project includes total reconstruction of the three bridges," said Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Kaia Tharp of Thermopolis. "Project plans include construction beginning in spring 2021 and completion in summer 2022."

She added, "This road has had some safety issues with sight distance. To improve this the bridges needed to be reconstructed along with the roadway. They had been on the rehabilitation schedule but were instead replaced to fix this safety issue."

The Sept. 9 meeting is the final design plan meeting for the project with bids to be let in December.

At the meeting Tharp will provide an overall summary of the project with some specific details and then open it up to questions from the public.

One of the public meeting topics will include taking input on a plan to limit truck traffic through the area during construction.

"Construction requirements include building the two canal bridges after irrigation flows have ended in 2021, with work being completed on the canal bridges prior to when irrigation water begins flowing to farm fields in 2022," said Tharp.

Questions regarding the 2021-22 project or the Sept. 9 public meeting may be directed to Tharp at (307) 864-6114 or [email protected].