Wilson pathway contract would lock in $4.7 million build

Teton County commissioners on June 16 are set to review the Wilson Active Transportation Improvements Project contract with Evans Construction, a $4,715,324 package that would build about 2,100 linear feet of multi-use pathway along both sides of WY 22 through downtown Wilson, plus shoulder widening, stormwater treatment, a flashing crosswalk beacon, retaining walls, signage and striping V Board Meeting Minutes. For a corridor where pavement, runoff and traffic all press against the human settlement pattern of Wilson, the stormwater piece matters as much as the path itself.

The deeper question is how much the county trimmed to keep the job moving in a single construction season. A staff report says Evans opened at $5,000,625, then Change Order #1 cut $285,301 by correcting retaining-wall quantities, removing unnecessary pathway subbase, and dropping irrigation sleeving partly because of cost and partly because staff cited concerns that landscaping in the right of way could attract wildlife into the roadway corridor Wilson transportation packet. The county expects $1,249,999 from the federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP), $698,441 from the federal BUILD grant, and $2,766,884 in local share, with substantial completion scheduled for Nov. 20 and final completion for Dec. 23 under the current contract.