WYDOT to Close 10 Rest Areas as Cost-Saving Measure

The Wyoming Department of Transportation will close 10 rest areas located throughout the state as a way to reduce the agency’s operational costs.

Announced by Governor Mark Gordon, the closures will be effective June 15 and were prompted by a need to reduce costs due to budgetary shortfalls.

The rest areas that will close include Lusk on U.S. 18, Guernsey on U.S. 26, Greybull on U.S. 14-16-20, Moorcroft and Sundance, both on Interstate 90, Star Valley on U.S. 89, Ft. Steele on Interstate 80, Upton on U.S. 16, and Orin Junction and Chugwater, both on Interstate 25.

Closure of those rest areas was approved at a recent special meeting of the Wyoming Transportation Commission. WYDOT Director K. Luke Reiner said those rest areas are ones that WYDOT feels can be closed with a minimal amount of impact to travelers in the state.

WYDOT officials sent letters to local community leaders and the contractors who work at the rest areas, notifying them of the closures.

The closures are expected to save WYDOT just under $200,000 from June 15 through Sept. 30, which is the end of the fiscal year. After that, the department expects to save just under $790,000 a year.

Reiner said although those 10 rest areas will close, motorists will still have access to facilities in neighboring communities. He said each of those rest areas are within a reasonable distance of a town that has facilities for the public.