Wyoming State Route 22 from the Town of Jackson over the Snake River Bridge to Wilson is one of the most important scenic corridors in Jackson Hole. The view of the Grand Teton Range rising magnificently over the Snake River valley is a serene scene enjoyed by millions. Through the tremendous vision of generous landowners, an engaged community, and talented land trusts, this landscape has been permanently protected with conservation easements for future generations to enjoy.

WY-22 is also one of the busiest roads in Wyoming.  With up to 22,000 cars per day it creates a safety hazard and barrier to many people who wish to bicycle, run or walk along the critical highway corridor connecting the east and west sides of Jackson Hole. Friends of Pathways is advocating for creating a safe high-quality WY-22 pathway connecting the existing pathways in Wilson with those in Jackson.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation recently stated that it would not consider pathway construction until the road is rebuilt in 2017. This is simply too long to wait.

Friends of Pathways believes that a community vision plan is critical to building support for the timely construction of a pathway along Wyoming Highway 22 to connect Jackson and Wilson, and to help protect the scenic qualities of the route.  With the help of our members and supporters, Friends of Pathways will help move this important project forward.

Friends of Pathways believes the community should come together to advocate for the timely construction of a pathway and separate pathway bridge over the Snake River to connect the towns of Jackson and Wilson.

Friends of Pathways will help by carrying out a strategic campaign and broad community collaboration to come together to plan well, agree, find the money, and construct a pathway from Wilson to Jackson while protecting the scenic qualities of the corridor from excessive highway widening.

Friends of Pathways has the unique ability and professional resources to lead a strategic campaign to secure the construction of a pathway and separate pathway bridge over the Snake River to connect the towns of Jackson and Wilson while laying the groundwork to protect this scenic corridor during future highway reconstruction.

A multi-faceted educational campaign is planned that will include the following:

• Develop and distribute support materials, including Concept Plan maps and illustrations to establish community understanding and support of the plan.
• Explore all feasible funding opportunities, including federal, Specific Purpose Tax funding, and community FoP fundraising solutions.
• Educate Teton County and Wyoming Department of Transportation officials about the project so they will support the construction of the pathway and bridge.
• Explore pathway construction possibilities with private landowners and the Jackson Hole Land Trust. 
• Seek public and private support to grant Scenic Byway status to WY-22.  This designation will be used as a leverage tool in future negotiations with WYDOT to encourage special treatment of the WY-22 corridor. 
• Engage in the start of the future upgrades to Wyoming 22. Seek best practices to protect the scenic character. Be proactive with WYDOT in the roadway redesign.

The pathway and bridge will cost several million dollars to construct. There will most likely be competition for local tax dollars from other community needs.  This project needs significant community support to secure public funding. Friends of Pathways is starting this process of pathway concept development, education efforts, and securing public support and funding so that this important project can move forward and be completed soon.

The best outcomes often come from effective public participation.  Completing this critical missing gap on WY-22 will require strong public support and involvement.

Friends of Pathways will promote a community dialog and assist in the timely development of WY-22 pathway and bridge plans and construction and will welcome and encourage public engagement in the process. We will help you understand the process of building a WY-22 Pathway and Bridge, and provide simple and time efficient methods for you to take action and encourage all the players to move forward with construction.

Please sign up for our e-mail alerts so that Friends of Pathways can keep you informed and provide the specifics on when your time and comments are most useful. FoP will do the hard work of researching the pathway process and provide useful factual summaries to best utilize your time and maximize your effectiveness in commenting.

WY-22 Proposed Pathway & Snake River Pathway Bridge

Click on the image for a downloadble PDF of the rendering - 24MB

World-class landscapes, like the corridor along WY-22, deserve world-class design. Pathway construction between Wilson and Jackson should include both a safe separate pathway and a new pathway and emergency access bridge over the Snake River. The Pathway Bridge would carefully integrate with the existing BLM river access and Emily Stevens County Park and levee access and be wide enough to accommodate emergency access in case of accident events on the existing WY-22 highway bridge.

Potential Elements of the Project:

• At Pathway Bridge crossing the Snake River at Wilson - a new pathway and emergency access bridge as a centerpiece connecting Emily Stevens Park to the BLM Snake River access.

• The pathway should include an underpass of WY-390 to the west of the Snake River Bridge to connect to the existing Wilson Centennial and Moose-Wilson pathways. This was anticipated in constructing the Wilson pathway, easements exist, and it is technically feasible. This solves crossing WY-390 with a safe separated grade crossing.
• At the Snake River Pathways Bridge, the pathway would connect to the Walton Levee Trail north of Emily Steven’s Park and integrate with the BLM river access and boat launch on the west side.

• To the east of the Snake River a new pathway is proposed along WY-22 to connect to the existing Indian Springs Pathway and continue east to the Town of Jackson.

The conceptual ideas of a pathway along WY-22 include pathway connections at both the existing Indian Springs Trail intersection to Cottonwood and the School Campus, plus a new path along WY-22 to the eastern start of WY-22 at the intersection with West Broadway.

At the “Y” junction of WY-22 and US-26/West Broadway, the WY-22 pathway could connect to another community pathway proposed along hillside of West Broadway on the East Gros Ventre butte side of the highway all the way to the 5-way intersection in the Town of Jackson and eventually an underpass connecting to the Karns Meadows park and future pathway. The West Broadway leg of the pathway could also include pedestrian lighting to help address wildlife crossings at West Broadway by the new Karns Meadows Park.