Getting a big Wyo welcome

Transportation enthusiasts, sign collectors or citizens interested in Wyoming's heritage may soon be able to own a piece of Wyoming Department of Transportation history.

WYDOT will auction off five, 8x4 foot aluminum Welcome to Wyoming signs that once greeted travelers to the state. The online auction can be viewed at https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/wyoming,wy/list/current?orgid=50715. The sign auction is currently ongoing and ends August 14.

"This is the first time we've auctioned off our Welcome to Wyoming signs," said Gregg Fredrick, WYDOT's chief engineer. "These are a unique aspect of transportation because these are the signs that welcomed visitors to our state every day."

The five signs come from different parts of the state. For each auction, WYDOT has a brief description of the sign location.

WYDOT officials decided to auction off the signs because of a large number of public requests for the decommissioned signs. WYDOT recently replaced its Welcome to Wyoming signs with a new version that matches the state's license plates.

The department changes welcome signs every eight years when the state issues a new license plate.

"We were getting interest from the public, so we decided to auction off the signs as a way to allow everyone an opportunity to get a sign," Fredrick said. "The money from the auction will go into the highway fund, which will be used to help us take care of our state transportation system."