Multi-Million Dollar Road Project on Chief Joseph Highway This Summer

Millions of dollars are going into a Chief Joseph Highway improvement project.

A moderately sized but expensive repair project will be undertaken to make some slide repairs on a section of WYO 296, along with a stabilization of the area and fixing a dip in the road. Condon-Johnsons & Associates Inc, a contracting company based in Oakland, California was awarded the contract for the job. That may sound bizarre until you hear the scale of the work needed. Crews will drill 120, 39-inch shafts that vary between 50 to 70 feet deep at Dead Indian Pass, which is on Dead Indian Hill. This will serve to stabilize the land and prevent it from further movement. At $5.7 million dollars, it’s a bit intense but should be completed by June 30^th.

This is just one of the projects to be undertaken along this route. A similar but much larger project is being undertaken on the Beartooth Highway. WYDOT will be completing the 420-foot, 3-span Beartooth Ravine steel girder bridge, 20-foot-high mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls, and roadwork and landscaping to tie into that portion of U.S. Highway 212 at a cost of $27 million dollars. This particular project required funds from multiple state and national agencies, raised over several years. The construction of Beartooth Ravine bridge will improve the safety of both drivers and wildlife, and improve wildlife connectivity through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

There’s no word on when either of these projects will begin this summer.