WYDOT opens North Garner Lake Road to traffic

GILLETTE, Wyo – The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) recently completed paving operations on the final phase of the North Garner Lake Road.

This new eight mile roadway will provide a second north-south access to north WYO 59, which will shorten the existing route through Gillette via US 14-16 by 4.5 miles.  

Prime contractor, Border States Paving Inc., began building North Garner Lake Road in 2018 beginning at the northern end of the highway near the Dry Fork Station power plant and WYO 59 and extended east for approximately 3.5 miles where it met up with the existing North Garner Lake Road. This phase included the construction of a new overpass over the BNSF railroad tracks.

In 2019, prime contractor Simon Contractors continued with the second phase which began with the realignment of the existing North Garner Lake Road which connects to Northern Drive at the southern end. This upgraded intersection includes free-right turn lanes from all directions and offers more fluidity for traffic. 

Other subcontractors on both phases were DRM, Reiman Corp., Keyhole Technologies LLC, Constructors Services Inc., Scott Brothers Inc. and Delta Wye, Inc.

Although WYDOT is overseeing this project, North Garner Lake Road is a county road and will be maintained by Campbell County.  

This partnership between WYDOT, Campbell County Commission, Contura Coal West, Western Fuels Wyoming Inc. and WYODAK Resource Development Corporation LLC, resulted in the construction of this new route to accommodate heavy truck traffic in Gillette.

The cost of this new construction project was estimated at $34.2 million. Senate File 41, Enrolled Act 29, The Wyoming Mineral Impacted Road Act, established by the Wyoming Legislature in 2016 allowed projects, such as this, for the relocation, construction, or improvement of roads and bridges directly impacted by development of coal resources. WYDOT's portion of the $24.2 million was funded by its State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The Campbell County Commission, Contura Coal West, and Western Fuels Wyoming, Inc. funded the remaining $10 million.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at the North Garner Lake Road and Northern Drive intersection to recognize the accomplishment of one of WYDOT’s larger projects and the partnerships that played a role in its completion. 

For information about this news release, contact WYDOT District 4 public information 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.