The City of Green River approved a grant request to the Wyoming State Lands and Investments board which would help pay for water system improvements ahead of a road reconstruction project scheduled to take place in 2016.
A Wyoming Department of Transportation Urban Systems Project will take place in summer of 2016, starting with Hitching Post Drive from its intersection with Upland Way, north to the intersection with Iowa Avenue, rebuilding the road as it’s a heavily used collector street needing repairs. WYDOT is funding the construction as Hitching Post Drive meets its criteria for an urban roadway within a city. Mark Westenskow, city utilities manager, said WYDOT receives federal funding, which is then distributed to cities to maintain and repair the roads. Other roads within Green River meeting this criteria are West Teton Boulevard and East Teton Boulevard. This differs from Uinta Drive and Flaming Gorge Way because Hitching Post Drive, along with the two Teton Boulevards, are city streets while Uinta Drive and Flaming Gorge Way are part of the state highway system.
Westenskow said the city plans a future water transmission project along Hitching Post Drive, south to the Teton Water Tank located past Hitching Post Drive’s intersection with Vermont Court. Westenskow said accomplishing the water improvement work before the reconstruction project would mean the city would have to block off and work on the Hitching Post Drive and Upland Way intersection once, as the water work would be accomplished and paved as part of the WYDOT project.
“We’d rather only be there once,” Westenskow said.
Westenskow said the grant request totals $100,000, 50 percent of the total cost if the water project takes place ahead of the WYDOT construction project. The grant application states the other 50 percent would come from reserves in the water fund.
“Our expectation is that the city share would be included in the 2015-2016 budget, with a rate increase adopted at that time to maintain a balanced budget for the water fund,” agenda documentation states.
The water project would be part of a planned third phase to the ongoing southside water system improvements. A letter to the Office of State Lands and Investments Westenskow wrote Jan. 5 states the project would reconfigure existing 12-inch and 16-inch water mains at the Upland Way and Hitching Post Drive intersection to improve connectivity between two water storage tanks.
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