GREEN RIVER — Members of the community gathered at the Sweetwater County Library Wednesday evening to discuss the possibility of an alternate road that locals would be able to travel between Green River and Rock Springs.

On May 4, Representative Mark Baker, R-Green River, began discussions with the community regarding the alternate road, addressing both the Sweetwater County Commission and the Green River City Council.

Baker’s goal is to find federal funding, with the backing of the Wyoming Department of Transportation, through the American Jobs Plan. The American Jobs Plan is President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposal to invest $2 trillion in U.S. infrastructure over the next eight years.

The project has had studies done in the past but would need an environmental study completed before the project can even be considered for funding. Baker said the study could take upwards of two to four years to be completed, though it could be sooner as well.

Much of the hesitation on this project revolves around maintenance of the road after it’s built. Though Baker hopes the road could be a Wyoming state highway, if the route was a county road, maintenance would fall upon the county. This means not only plowing during the winter, but crack seals and overlays would be the county’s responsibility.

Baker said Wyoming has not built a new state highway in over two decades, which presents an obstacle to it becoming a state highway.

Gene Legerski, Sweetwater County Public Works Director, said the County is already responsible for 1,200 miles of road with six plows. He said as of now he has $1.4 million each year allotted for the maintenance of these roads.

“I would love to have the road, I just have to be able to pay for it for the next 20 years,” Legerski said.

Despite concerns over future maintenance of the road, Baker said it’s an opportunity now that should be considered. He said not doing the project would be like not cashing a winning lottery ticket because you don’t want to pay taxes on it.

“This is a winning lottery ticket,” Baker said.

Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo said that the mass amounts of federal funding being passed down scares him because the local communities will have to pay taxes on these projects, and therefore, it’s not simply free funding from the government.

Kaumo furthered his comments by saying the community has bridges that are 40 to 60 years old that need repaired, and that money should be spent on existing infrastructure first before starting new projects. He said they should be careful about spending “one-time money on longtime projects” when they already struggle to find the funding for maintenance of current infrastructure.

Legerski also asked why the community should back the alternate road for federal funding rather than current projects that already have studies done such as the Baxter Road project and the Flaming Gorge Way Corridor project.

Baker said he believes these projects that already have studies completed would be better suited for American Rescue Plan funding, which the Wyoming Legislature will be allocating funds from during their special session this summer. He said he wants the American Jobs Plan to fund the alternate road, as that money is aimed toward asphalt and bridge projects.

According to Baker, the importance of the alternate road is to protect local travelers from heavy congestion and semi-truck drivers as they are commuting between Rock Springs and Green River. He said this year so far there have been five deaths on the roads in Sweetwater County.

A few members of the community shared their own stories of traveling this stretch of I80 in which they were either nearly run off the road by semi-trucks or had to deal with major delays or road closures. One Green River resident expressed concerns about her and her husband aging and possibly needing an ambulance to take them to the hospital only to have the interstate be closed.

Another Green River resident said when she moved to Green River in the 1980s, the old Lincoln Highway was used often. She said she didn’t see why they wouldn’t make it an option once again.

Baker said he is hoping to receive many more constituent testimonies stating why they’re in support of this project so he can bring all of that support to the Wyoming Legislature.