◆ Work at Etna North may carry over to spring, Thayne North plans will start, plans for improvements at Grover Corner .

• Etna North
Etna North highway construction has focused on Ames Hill in the past two weeks, in preparation for the winter months.

In addition, Wyoming Department of Transportation Resident Engineer Darrin Robinson said contract crews have been replacing crushed base and completing the last of 54 water crossings along the five-lane project between Etna and Alpine.

Plans for a full depth reclamation (FDR) on Etna North is still planned for mid-September, pending weather conditions. The FDR will cover all five lanes.

Robinson said if the project is not completed before winter, work will carry on in the spring months. If that is the case, he noted the highway will be prepared for winter travel, which include the water line crossings.

• Thayne North
As traffic continues to increase in the Star Valley area associated with Jackson employment commuters and tourism related to the national park region, plans for a Thayne North five-lane project may be moved up.

Robinson said WYDOT has requested plans for Thayne North o be ready by next August. However, he said the project will be contingent on “funding and acquisition of right-of-ways.”

The project will be identical to Etna North, with four travel lanes, a center turn lane and larger emergency lanes.
“Right now it’s in the file for 2027, but hopefully funding will help move that up,” said Robinson.

• Grover Corner
With population increases in the Grover and Auburn area and increased traffic on U.S. 89, WYDOT is also looking at improvements for the Grover Corner.

“A mill and overlay is planned for the Grover Corner, between milepost 87 and 94,” Robinson said. “We’re also looking at a center turn lane as part of that project.”

WYDOT crews were in the Grover area in late August working on the early stages of surveying and mapping of the area.
Robinson advised, “It was scheduled for 2022, but I don’t think it will happen that fast, probably the year after that.”

WYDOT Resident Engineer Darrin Robinson stands at the base of Ames Hill earlier this summer.
(SVI Media/Dan Dockstader)