Summer paving operations to begin, motorists advised to slow down and move over

SHERIDAN – Wyoming Department of Transportation maintenance crews will begin paving operations on various roads throughout northeast Wyoming next week.  

Operations will begin in and around the Sundance area on Monday, May 17, weather permitting.

Paving operations in Crook and Weston counties are expected to be completed by mid-June. Paving operations will then move to Johnson and Sheridan counties and then to Campbell County.

This particular paving operation is meant to repair existing roadways that may have been damaged due to snow removal, winter frost heaving, excessive ruts and cracking. The average life span of the top few inches of a paved highway is 10 to 15 years and dependant on the type and volume of traffic.

Each year, area maintenance supervisors, their foreman and district administrators meet to determine which roadways will be paved. They look at the data, drive the road and look at the surface condition with a critical eye to determine which ones need to be paved. 

One of the key determinants is whether or not the roadway condition provides safe travel for motorists. 

Summer paving operations are a critical component to fulfilling the mission of WYDOT - to provide a safe and effective transportation system - WYDOT District 4 maintenance dedicates about 20,000 man-hours each summer maintaining roadway surface conditions in the district.

This summer over 23 miles and 60 locations will be paved using 30,000 tons of hot mix asphalt.

To complete a paving operation, crews need to close travel lanes, set up detours and employ flagging operations redirecting traffic out of the work lane as it is being completed.  These road sections could be a few hundred feet or up to a mile long. 

It is important for motorists to slow down and move over when they encounter any maintenance, construction and utilities workers and vehicles when traveling on Wyoming’s interstates and highways, in fact, it is a Wyoming state law.

As a reminder, the Move Over law requires motorists to slow down, move over to give safe clearance to law enforcement officers, firefighters, ambulances, utility workers, and in some cases, tow-truck drivers and disabled vehicles that have pulled over.

Wyoming’s Move Over law requires motorists to do what they currently do when encountering an emergency vehicle that has pulled over.

When a construction, maintenance or utility vehicle is stopped on a road with two or more lanes in the same direction, motorists must move to the farthest lane away from the stopped vehicle.

On a two-lane road where speeds are 45 mph or greater, motorists must slow down to 20 mph below the posted speed limit. Motorists can be fined $235 for failure to move over.

For information about this news release, contact WYDOT District 4 public relations specialist Laura Dalles at (307) 752-3022. For the latest road conditions, visit WYDOT's 511 website, call 5-1-1, or download the Wyoming 511 app. Follow District 4 on Facebook.