Lawmakers on the Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee talked with a multitude of state officials in hopes of finding long-term funding fixes for aging roads and highways on Monday.
A recent report by the national transportation research nonprofit TRIP showed that Wyoming is one of many states facing significant transportation infrastructure challenges in the coming years.
Revenue streams for the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) have “remained flat for nearly 20 years, creating an annual shortfall between $400 million and $600 million,” according to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.
Federal funding vs state funding
The federal government often gives grants and loans to states for the purpose of large projects like interstate highways. However, it normally falls on the state to pay for the maintenance and upkeep once completed. Each additional mile might increase access and trade, but it would also impose additional costs on the state for snowplowing, fence repairs and cleanup after truck blowovers.
WYDOT Director Darin Westby said WYDOT’s overall budget is $900 million a year, with construction costs right around $400 million, eating roughly half.
In 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. This provided Wyoming funding for five years to the tune of $1.8 billion, and is set to expire this September.
Westby said he’s working with the Wyoming delegation to Congress to ensure the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill gets rural states like Wyoming as much funding as possible. However, Westby said he currently does not see any funding increases from Congress on the horizon.
“We’re not fully optimistic that we’re going to see any increase from the federal transportation bill,” said Westby. “Even if we stay flat, with buying power we’re going backwards a little bit.”
If that's the case, the state may struggle to pay for the basics, like materials needed to repair highways.
Rocky Moretti with TRIP pulled from the Federal Highway Administration’s national highway construction cost index, adding those costs have increased by 52% from the beginning of 2022 through the third quarter of 2025.
Both Westby and Moretti agreed that highway infrastructure is “the backbone” of state economies, but without an increase in funding from Congress, states will have to find the money and make decisions on what gets funding.
Projects on the back burner
WYDOT worked closely with TRIP when creating the report. TRIP listed 10 projects it believes WYDOT most urgently needs to address for an efficient, safe and functional highway system.
The list places a complete rework of the interchange between I-80 and I-25 in Cheyenne at number one. TRIP notes the cost would be roughly $500 million, and that while the design phase of the project is underway, funding to put shovels in the ground isn’t available.
The remaining items on the list, in order, are:
- Widening US-287 from Laramie to the Colorado state line to accommodate freight traffic
- I-80 improvements in Uinta, Sweetwater, Carbon, Albany and Laramie counties
- New passing lanes on WY-59 in Campbell County
- Widening the Wind River Canyon tunnels in Hot Springs County
- Widening WY-22 from Jackson to Wilson
- Constructing passing lanes on US-20 fromWaltman toward Shoshoni, Shoshoni toward Thermopolis and Casper toward Shoshoni, and on US-85 from Cheyenne toward the South Dakota state line
In addition to major construction projects, the TRIP report also covers a range of related maintenance projects. According to TRIP, 7% of Wyoming bridges and 33% of pavement are in “poor condition.” WYDot said there’s a $125 million funding gap needed to begin fixing bridges that are beyond their expected service life and to maintain bridges in their current condition over 20 years.
While these bridges are not at an imminent risk of sudden collapse, TRIP notes that states may need to restrict weight limits on some bridges, which may have an effect on transportation costs for drivers. With each passing year, these bridges continue to deteriorate. TRIP predicts that 117 bridges currently in poor condition will increase to 123 bridges in poor condition by 2028.
Westby closed out the TRIP report by restating the urgency of trying to address some of these projects.
“It's getting to the point where a lot of these projects should have been done 20 years ago,” said Westby. “We’re getting close to being an F.”
Brainstorming solutions
“What we keep looking at is: Where is infrastructure in prioritization of the state? Is it a high priority? Then we gotta figure out how to fund it. If it's not a high priority, then we will just keep doing what we're doing to keep as many roads open as long as we can,” Westby said to lawmakers.
The committee’s conversation centered around House Bill 82, Wyoming interstate study and safe highways investment act
. The bill was brought by Rep. Steve Harshman (R-Casper), but it failed during this year’s budget session. It would have set up a task force focused on highway infrastructure and provided $250 million in funding for large highway projects, money that would be paid back over 5 years.
According to Sen. John Kolb (R-Rock Springs), the Senate side had an issue with the source of funding, originally the Strategic Investments and Projects Account (SIPA). Some lawmakers are looking to repeal the SIPA.
A source of funding continued to be a primary topic of discussion, as legislators discussed Wyoming’s regionally low fuel and gas tax, using constitutional language to institute a limited number of toll booths, tapping into the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, borrowing from the Permanent Mineral Trust Fund, reducing the scope of some projects, considering issuing state bonds and the creation of a highway trust fund.
Sen. Stephan Pappas (R-Cheyenne) believed that legislators should have formed a group that would have looked into the possibility of “a single, or maybe two tolling stations statewide” during the previous budget session. Pappas said using funds from a federal pilot program to set up tolls at strategic locations, like near Cheyenne and along the Utah border, that would generate revenue from heavy highway users may be a better option than paying to widen some lanes.
“We just saw in the TRIP report, from 2018 to 2025, a 160% increase in construction cost. We just can’t keep up with that,” said Pappas. “We need big dollars. Either that, or the state is gonna have to come out of the general fund to start doing that, and I don’t really see that happening.”
Committee directives
Ultimately, lawmakers felt they had a few options lined up in front of them. Some of the ideas, like the creation of a highway trust fund, would have to wait until the next budget session set for February 14, 2028. Other concepts, like a state bond, would require more time for the treasurer’s office to explore. Additionally, the situation may still change if Congress finds it appropriate to increase infrastructure funding to states over the next few weeks.
Despite the range of options lawmakers laid out during the meeting, most on the committee felt that a deeper focus was needed. Rep. Lee Filer (R-Cheyenne) proposed forming a working group to explore the numerous ideas laid before the committee.
Rep. Landon Brown (R-Cheyenne) said they should have a “rifle” approach as opposed to a “shotgun” and asked that the motion narrow its scope to find where funds are most available for WYDOT.
The motion passed, and the group is expected to form by Sept. 30.
The Transportation Committee is scheduled to meet next on Aug. 20 in Evanston.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
