Big Horn Avenue Study: New Website & First Public Meetings

The study to find solutions on Big Horn Avenue begins with an informative new website and the first calls for public involvement in the year-long process.

Last week, the City of Cody and Stantec Inc. launched a new website about Big Horn Avenue Corridor Study. Stantec Inc. is the company selected by the City of Cody to conduct a year-long study to find the best pedestrian and traffic solutions on the busy 2.2-mile stretch of road.

Stantec Inc. is an international professional services company in the design and consulting industry. The Canada-based company provides professional consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics for infrastructure and facilities projects.

Stantec Inc. was hired by the City of Cody earlier this year. The company has already been working on the study, but this is the first time the process is open to the public.

The first opportunity for public engagement will be virtual open houses, scheduled for 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13.

There will also be in-person meetings in the City Council Chambers at City Hall during each session. However, seating is limited to 60 people per session.

Big Horn Avenue is being studied to identify and document vehicular safety and operational deficiencies, pedestrian/bicycle safety deficiencies & network gaps, and access density concerns.

The project’s three phases are scheduled for 2022: data analysis, concept alternatives, and the final report. The entire process should conclude by December.

The study will recommend specific improvements to the corridor to balance the need to efficiently move regional traffic through and safely provide multimodal access for the Cody community.

W.Y.D.O.T.’s 2019 traffic study showed between 6,000 to nearly 12,000 vehicles driving on Big Horn Avenue per day. The highest number of vehicles were counted near the center of Cody.

In addition, there were 65 crashes on the Big Horn Avenue Corridor between 2016 and 2020. Most crashes involved collisions between turning and through traffic.

• 15 crashes resulted in injury, with one serious injury at Beacon Hill Road
• Two crashes involved bicycles
• One recent pedestrian crash was recorded in 2021 involving a Cody Middle School student attempting to cross Big Horn Avenue.

Stantec highlights seven locations immediately of importance to the study. These locations are Cody Middle School, Mentock Park, the Cody Mural and Harry Jackson Museums, Highland & Hugh Smith Parks, Milward Simpson Field, and Big Horn Cinemas.

The easy but essential first step for Cody residents is a survey with a simple question: what is Big Horn Avenue to you?

The 13-question survey has simple checkboxes and a few ranking questions. It should take no more than five minutes to complete.

Survey responses will be accepted through April 20, 2022. The data collected from the survey will be made public record for statistical purposes.