Interim Road Opens Three Weeks After Teton Pass Collapse

Three weeks after the catastrophic landslide, Evans Construction (Evans) was thrilled that the Teton Pass interim detour road was able to open in time for the Fourth of July holiday. Our crews at Evans and HK Contractors (HK) worked around the clock to remediate a roadway and restore normal travel times back to the Jackson commuter workforce and tourists traveling to visit the Greater Yellowstone region.

We are grateful for our ongoing positive partnership with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) that made the quick remediation possible. Governor Gordon of Wyoming praised the collaborative effort stating, “It’s absolutely incredible how the community and Wyoming came together to respond to the Teton Pass collapse. I want to thank the Wyoming Department of Transportation Commission, Evans Construction, Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, U.S. Forest Service, Teton Count and the Town of Jackson for mobilizing resources quickly to assist our communities – and our commuter workforce – and work to get the road reopened. Thank you as well to our partners in Idaho for their immediate willingness to offer assistance. You helped rebuild this vital infrastructure and respond to others in need.”

Even as our crews took on the serious undertaking of opening a two-lane road as fast as possible, our teams found surprising ways to bring smiles to the drivers and passengers who travel along the highway. The new fiber rolls that have been laid out to assist erosion prevention now feature a smiley face and a rock snowman on the new embankment.

Now that the interim road is completed, WYDOT is working to provide a long-term solution that will benefit the surrounding communities.

We are proud of our teams at Evans and HK who stepped up in big ways to meet the tight turnaround to get the interim road finished. We know that many of our own employees were working hard to get the interim road finished while they were also affected by the lengthened commute times.