Guest Shot/ By Geoff Gottlieb Dec 17, 2025
Jackson Hole News & Guide
On Sept. 15, the Wyoming Department of Transportation gave the Teton County Board of Commissioners an update on the Highway 22/Tribal Trail Connector project.
WYDOT previously had eliminated from further consideration those options that did not
involve widening Highway 22. They also eliminated the option of not building the Tribal
Trail Connector if Highway 22 is ultimately widened to five lanes.
The community has asked WYDOT to consider a phased approach, such as improving unsafe or congested intersections and employing demand management techniques before the destruction of widening Highway 22. They did not agree to this.
Our reviews of WYDOT’s analysis of the options during the screening process show that it is deeply flawed, as explained in earlier letters to the commissioners and WYDOT. We now understand that the “Purpose and Need” justifying widening 22 and building the Tribal Trail Connector is based on a projection of traffic volumes in 2050, 25 years from now. It seems to be based on a constant 3% annual growth rate for that entire time, leading to a 2050 volume traffic volume estimate that implies we are doubling our population here in the valley by then.
There was no mention of the need to address current traffic congestion, let alone any analysis showing how the project would alleviate it. Instead WYDOT has apparently replaced that argument with the need to improve safety, even though WYDOT’s own accident data show no material increase in accidents along the corridor over the past 10 years.
As WYDOT is now starting the NEPA process, they are sticking to their plan to conduct an Environmental Assessment (“EA”) instead of the lengthier, more in depth, and rigorous, Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”), stating it will decide whether to proceed with an EIS after completing the EA. I believe they intend to claim it will not be needed, in spite of the commissioners’ recent letter to WYDOT specifically asking for an EIS.
addition, it is not clear the extent to which WYDOT will need to access conservation easements that exist all along the corridor. We understand WYDOT will not be granted access, forcing the state to condemn and pay market rates for the land needed to expand WYDOT’s right of way sufficiently to make room for the widened carriageway. There is little doubt that if we want to keep the bike path along Highway 22, accessing the easements will be necessary.
Commissioner Luther Propst fortunately asked the key question of who will pay for the condemnation. WYDOT responded vaguely with a statement to the effect of “we will be there to support you,” which I believe is code for “it will be on Teton County’s dime.”
So, to recap:
1. Our community is facing the impact of WYDOT widening Highway 22 and building the Tribal Trail Connector, which will create enormous disruption and potential damage to the surrounding ecosystem and a blight on local residents’ quality of life for the several years of construction.
2. There will be no improvement to current traffic congestion due to the inevitability of induced demand.
3. The purpose and need is without merit, based on (1) an incorrect claim of the need for improved safety not supported by WYDOT’s own data — in fact, it is likely the widened highway will be more dangerous to motorists and wildlife, especially since there is no indication that WYDOT will reduce the speed limit, and (2) total reliance on a point estimate of population growth 25 years in the future, which likely has an enormous margin of error, suggesting a high probability that traffic volume will never justify this project in our or our children’s lifetimes.
4. Teton County is likely to foot the bill for condemnation, at least to maintain the pathway, which it already paid for when it was first built.
I would like to see how anyone can still justify this expensive and disruptive project, which will irreparably harm our ecosystem, the main reason anyone lives in or visits Jackson Hole. The board of commissioners should understand this and do what it can to quash this project now.