Summer paving operations to begin in northeast Wyoming

Wyoming Department of Transportation northeast Wyoming maintenance crews will begin yearly paving operations on various roads in Crook, Weston, Campbell, Johnson and Sheridan counties.

Paving operations are scheduled to begin the week of May 15, 2023 in Crook and Weston Counties and will move west to Campbell, Johnson and Sheridan counties throughout the summer. Paving operations are expected to be completed by mid-August – weather allowing. 

This particular paving operation is performed by WYDOT Maintenance crews and is meant to repair existing roadways that may have been damaged due to snow removal, winter frost heaving, excessive ruts, and cracking. The average lifespan of the top few inches of a paved highway is ten to fifteen years and depends on the type and volume of traffic.

Each year, area maintenance supervisors, their foreman, and district administrators meet to determine which roadways will be paved. They look at the data, drive the road and look at the surface condition with a critical eye to determine which ones need to be paved. 

One of the key determinants is whether or not the roadway condition provides safe travel for motorists. 

Summer paving operations are a critical component to fulfilling the mission of WYDOT - to provide a safe and effective transportation system - WYDOT District 4 maintenance dedicates about 20,000 man hours each summer maintaining roadway surface conditions in our district.

In order to complete a paving operation crews need to close travel lanes, set up detours and employ flagging operations redirecting traffic out of the work lane as it is being completed.  These road sections could be a few hundred feet or up to a mile long. 

It is important for motorists to slow down and move over when they encounter any maintenance, construction and utilities workers and vehicles when traveling on Wyoming’s interstates and highways, in fact, it is a Wyoming state law.

As a reminder, the Move Over law requires motorists to slow down, move over to give safe clearance to law enforcement officers, firefighters, ambulances, utility workers, and in some cases, tow-truck drivers and disabled vehicles that have pulled over.

Wyoming’s Move Over law requires motorists to do what they currently do when encountering an emergency vehicle that has pulled over.

When a construction, maintenance or utility vehicle is stopped on a road with two or more lanes in the same direction, motorists must move to the farthest lane away from the stopped vehicle.

On a two-lane road where speeds are 45 mph or greater, motorists must slow down to 20 mph below the posted speed limit. Motorists can be fined $235 for failure to move over.