WYDOT reopens 9 of 10 shuttered rest areas — for now

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) recently reopened several rest areas that have been closed for nearly a year, but they’ll be shutting back down at the end of the summer.

On May 21, 2021, WYDOT reopened 9 of the 10 rest areas that were closed at the direction of Governor Mark Gordon in June 2020 due to budgetary shortfalls.

The reopened rest areas include:

• Chugwater on I-25
• Greybull on US 14
• Guernsey on US 26
• Lusk on US 18
• Moorcroft on I-90
• Orin Junction on I-25
• Star Valley on US 89
• Sundance on I-90
• Upton on US 16.

The Fort Steele rest area off I-80 remains shuttered due to a construction project intended to add 200 truck parking spaces along the I-80 corridor. That project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022.

WYDOT says that the rest areas were reopened for tourist season and will close again on September 30, 2021.

When the rest area closures were announced last summer, it was estimated that the closures would save WYDOT $789,812 per year.