WYDOT reports on canyon walls

The rock slides in Wind River Canyon this spring and into part of summer are one of the top priorities for the Wyoming Department of Transportation according to the state director, Bill Panos, who met with the county commissioners on Tuesday.

Panos said this was the first year they had brought in the state’s geology department to take a look at the canyon walls, even before the slides started happening, to get a better idea of where they may occur.

Fortunately, they were already in the area with equipment, scaling some of those potentially dangerous rocks when the first slides started happening. Since they were already there, it was very easy to get to each of the corresponding slides.

Panos said the canyon is one area he worries about the most and had many discussions with Governor Mead about it.

The logistics of having to close the canyon is the biggest concern, basically shutting Thermopolis off from the outside world. With that in mind, he and the governor agreed the geology department needs to come every year before slide season starts to do preventative rock removal.

To that end, more money will be expended on Wind River Canyon as well. The geologists have already created a map of the canyon showing possible slide areas for next year.

Panos also discussed several projects in Hot Springs County that are planned over the next few years.

Hamilton Dome Road has been completed at a cost of $1.9 million and Hwy. 120 between Thermopolis and Meeteetse in the Goosberry Creek area will be completed to the tune of $2.8 million.

In 2019, the north Lucerne section of US 20 between Thermopolis and Worland will have seven miles re-done for $2.2 million and in 2020, US Hwy 20 through Thermopolis will be re-done as well, costing $2.4 million.

Between 2013 and 2017, projects completed in the county by WYDOT will amount to a total of $16.5 million. From now through 2020, another $11 million will be spent here.

“WYDOT has been a great neighbor for us,” said Dave Schlager, head of the county road and bridge department. “We’ve been able to refurbish some of their equipment for our own use. They’ve been really great to work with.”

Panos said he has heard nothing but great compliments on the new county airport and after touring it himself, he agrees it was a terrific project.

It did, however, give him at least one idea that he will be pushing for with all new airports built in the state from this point forward.

Right now, the airport uses a cistern system and hauls water to the airport as there is no available water or sewer in the area.

Panos said he is currently looking for a federal grant that will allow the airport to bring water to it without it costing the county. He feels without available water and sewer at an airport that it cuts back on the possibility of economic development in the area.

Jerry Williams, changing his hat from county attorney to volunteer firefighter, asked Panos why all the fire numbers along the state roads were moved from the edge of the road to the edge of the right of way.

Williams said it has been an issue for firemen, sheriff’s deputies and EMT’s, finding the locations of fires and other emergency issues because they cannot see the markers, especially at night.

Panos assured Williams he would dig into it to find out why they were moved in the first place and see if there isn’t something that can be done about the issue. He said they want to make it as easy as possible for everyone, especially in an emergency.

The WyoLink system is another item Panos discussed with the commissioners, first telling them of the issues they had getting it off the ground.

One of the first things he did when he became director was to start rebuilding the WyoLink program from the government side of things.

He took the number of people on the committee down to 11 from the previous 17, making it a smaller, more concise number of people to work with.

He also moved it out of the homeland security division, making it a part of WYDOT under the flag of the communications commission. This commission will be in charge of taking care of the WyoLink policies and nothing else.

Second on his agenda for the system was the technology end of things.

He took a look at the technology already in place and realized it was just not enough. So, he reorganized, making personnel and telecommunications changes and created a new group with a chief technology officer.

The next step was having a conversation with Motorola, the company providing all the technology, from radios to transmitters, and service. They’ve had something of a strangle-hold on Wyoming and Panos told them that would no longer be the way we do business.

From this point forward, Motorola will no longer be making the technology decisions for Wyoming. Instead, they are more than welcome to bid on projects, however, other technology and other companies will be considered.

The final step with the project was the financial side, what Panos felt was probably the most complex issue with the system.

When given to capital projects, the WyoLink system was not completed. Instead, Panos was able to pull out $30 million to complete the system and bidding came in at $29 million.

He assured the commissioners the system will be running the way it was intended within the next 24 months. They will have all the primary towers and secondary towers completed, and are currently looking for the prime places to build each of those towers.

“Let’s face it, there is no such thing as 100% coverage,” he said. “Even your cell provider cannot guarantee it. Its just not possible. There are always equipment failures, weather and all kinds of other things that prevent that complete coverage, but we are going to get as close as possible.”

Panos said one of the stumbling blocks with the technology is that something new comes out every year. They were spending way too much time worrying about the next big thing coming out and having the very latest in technology.

In addition to the original WyoLink, they are now in the opening phase of a WyoLink 2.0 that will allow the use of data, including photos and video.

The new system would be on a separate internet base, federally funded, and will be accessible for departments through an app on their cell phones so they can even see real time video or streaming of fires, rock slides or other emergencies.