Sand Creek Bridge to be repaired

By Joshua Wood

Of the four bridges maintained by Carbon County which were proposed by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) for repair or replacement using funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, only one will be substituted.

The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) were first notified of WYDOT’s plan to use funds from the infrastructure law during their March 15 meeting. Kandis Fritz, Carbon County Road & Bridge coordinator, told the commissioners during that meeting she was aware of other bridges maintained by the county which drew higher traffic. Fritz added she was unsure of going through the process of substituting those bridges, however, if it meant losing 100 percent funding from WYDOT.

Commissioner John Espy, however, encouraged Fritz to present the substitutions to the state transportation department.

At the April 5 meeting of the BOCCC, Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett presented a letter to the commissioners for their signature regarding the substitution. According to Bartlett, Fritz’s intention was to remove the bridge on Carbon County Road 402, which extends over Rock Creek, and substitute it with the bridge on Carbon County Road 3, which extends over Sand Creek.

Carbon County Road 402 exits Elk Mountain to the east and runs along Interstate 80, alternating from the north side to the south side, before ending at Wyoming Highway 13. Carbon County Road 3, meanwhile, connects Medicine Bow and Elk Mountain, beginning at County Road 1 south of Medicine Bow and merging into County Road 402 east of Elk Mountain.

None of the commissioners were opposed to substitution proposed by Fritz.

“This is a very good program,” said Chairman John Johnson. “We’re getting some bridges replaced for nothing.”

The commissioners voted unanimously to submit the letter to WYDOT replacing the bridge on Carbon County Road 402 with the bridge on Carbon County Road 3.

The next meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be at 2 p.m. on April 19 at the Grand Encampment Opera House (622 Rankin Avenue) in Encampment.