WILSON, Wyoming (KTVX) — A landslide has caused a portion of the Teton Pass roadway to collapse and crumble in what the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation is calling a catastrophic failure.
“The roadway at milepost 12.8 on Teton Pass has catastrophically failed and a long term closure is expected,” WYDOT posted on social media Saturday morning. “No crews were hurt in the process, and no equipment was damaged. WYDOT is now reviewing a long term solution and repairs.”
WYDOT released the below drone video of the roadway. The landslide has caused all lanes of the road to crumble away, and part of the guardrail can be seen dangling into the void.
The road, Wyoming State Highway 22, had been battered for two days by mudslide and landslide, according to WYDOT. On Thursday, the area was reportedly temporarily closed after a landslide at milepost 12.8 resulted in eight-inch cracks in the road.
Geologists and engineers who were sent to the area that day noticed “that crack and that drop started to move a lot,” said Stephanie Harsha, a spokesperson for District 3 of the Wyoming Department of Transportation. A paving crew temporarily patched the road, and traffic began moving again that night.
But that was short-lived as maintenance crews were sent to respond to a mudslide a couple of miles away in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, prompting the road to be closed once again.
Crews then noticed that the damage to the pavement had become more pronounced. Workers trying to figure out a detour around that section left for the night, “and by 5 a.m., this morning, WYDOT had discovered that the road had completely failed,” Stephanie Harsha, a spokesperson for District 3 of the WYDOT, said Saturday.
“We were very, very lucky that no crews were harmed. No equipment was damaged,” she said. “So now, engineers and geologists are doing geological assessments on the pass. They’ve been looking at it all day.”
It was not immediately clear how long it will take to reopen the road, a vital artery for people who live across the border in Idaho and work in pricey Jackson, which is also close to the popular Grand Teton National Park.
Harsha said an alternate route between Jackson and the area of Victor, Idaho, goes more than 60 miles out of the way and adds “quite a bit to any commute.”
Gov. Mark Gordon signed an executive order declaring an emergency, which his office said would help the state access additional resources from the Federal Highway Administration to begin repair work.
In a statement, the governor said the transportation department is working on “a long-term solution to rebuild this critical roadway.”
“I recognize the significant impacts this closure has to Teton County residents, regional commuters and the local economy,” Gordon said.
Additionally, a mudslide at milepost 15 on Teton Pass “breached the roadway with mud and debris, overwhelming the channeled drainage ditch and culvert,” WYDOT stated Saturday morning. “Crews are working on clearing the mud and debris this morning.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.