Work on Snake River south section will cause pathway closure

JACKSON – The Wyoming Department of Transportation’s (WYDOT), along with contract crews from Oftedal, will begin work near Game Creek Road to address recent movement in a slope near the Munger Mountain landslide. It is anticipated that the work and a closure of the Game Creek pathway will happen starting Monday, Aug. 10.

Traffic control will be in place to take the highway from five lanes (two travel lanes in each direction and a center turn lane), to three lanes (one travel lane in each direction and a center turn lane).  

“This is for safety for loading trucks and getting them turned around,” WYDOT resident engineer Bob Hammond said. 

The slope that crews will be repairing is south of the Munger Mountain landslide. As work has progressed in the area, crews found seeping water and unstable material.

“The water and these layers together with removal of material created some instability and some land slumped, creating a landslide,” Hammond said.

The landslide was slow moving and crews have been working on addressing the movement. To prevent any impacts to the new highway construction and stabilize it, the WYDOT Geology program performed an analysis of the area based on the recent data and the decision was made to build a toe berm at the base of the slide.  

In order to perform the work, crews needed material from the Game Creek cut, a slope just north of Game Creek Road. The existing pathway and tunnel near the area will be closed while operations are underway at the Game Creek cut. Expect work to begin possibly this week and to probably last the rest of this season for the prep work, removal of material, and reclamation.

All work schedules are subject to change. WYDOT would like to remind drivers to slow down in work zones and be alert and cautious of roadside workers. For more information on road construction, closures and weather conditions, please visit WYDOT's 511 website. 

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For more information about this project contact:

Stephanie Harsha, WYDOT public involvement, (307) 352-3065. For the latest road conditions, visit WYDOT's 511 website, call 5-1-1, or download the
Wyoming 511 app.