Rest area to re-open

Sundance and Moorcroft will see their rest areas re-open for the 2021 tourist season, and possibly beyond. In a press release, Wyoming Office of Tourism Executive Director Diane Shober described them as valuable tourism tools.

“With the summer season just around the corner, I’m glad we will be able to reopen these facilities to travelers,” Governor Mark Gordon said. “We are glad to have this chance to find a temporary solution.”

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) and Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) will partner to temporarily reopen and operate the rest areas, which were closed along with seven others last year as a cost-saving measure for WYDOT. At the time, Scott Taylor, District Engineer, explained WYDOT had “been forced to make difficult decisions during these times of budgetary uncertainty”.

The nine rest areas, according to Taylor, were chosen to cause as little hardship to the traveling public as possible. For example, many were either within or near communities that offer 24-hour service to motorists.

Now, however, WYDOT and WOT will work with the Governor’s Office to secure temporary federal funding to allow them to reopen.

“Each of these nine rest areas are a valuable tourism tool,” said Shober. “Certainly, a clean facility is important to the visitor experience, but it is also a powerful marketing platform to distribute travel guides and other trip-planning resources. As travelers are stretching their legs, they are also gathering information on local events, attractions, restaurants, campgrounds and lodging, which all can lead to extended stays and increase visitor spending.”

The Sundance and Moorcroft rest areas closed last June along with additional rest areas in Lusk, Guernsey, Greybull, Star Valley, Upton, Orin Jct and Chugwater.