Wyoming Highway Patrol officials say they are cracking down on truck drivers who continue to transport oversized loads through the Green River Tunnel following a fatal crash there earlier this year.
In February, a 26-vehicle pileup occurred at the tunnel, killing three people. The massive, fiery crash damaged the tunnel, forcing it to undergo a lengthy reconstruction process that limits the size of cars and trucks that can pass through.
While a detour around the tunnel can add up to 90 minutes to a driver’s route, several officials told Cowboy State Daily that the risk of pushing an oversized load through the tunnel outweighs the reward.
Wyoming Highway Patrol issued a strong warning to truck drivers last week after apprehending a driver who allegedly skipped the Port of Entry, drove an oversized load without a permit, and ignored road closure signs. The violations resulted in fines totaling more than $800.
Authorities said the driver was one of several who attempted to skirt the rules in recent days.
“Let this serve as a reminder that NO OVERSIZE LOADS, under any circumstances, will be allowed through the Green River Tunnel and, additionally through the city of Green River,” a statement from WHP read. “All commercial drivers hauling oversized loads must follow the routes specified on their oversize/overweight permits. All oversize/overweight loads require a permit or permission before entering Wyoming.”
Crackdown
The traffic stop comes about two weeks after WHP’s Commercial Carrier Division reported troopers having to stop a trucker carrying an oversize load just before the truck was going to enter the tunnel.
Troopers discovered that the driver had deviated from his permitted route, necessitating a temporary closure of eastbound traffic to move the load off the interstate, WHP reported.
The driver was issued citations for violating permit terms and conditions, as well as failing to observe closed signs.
WHP Public Information Officer Aaron Brown reiterated the agency’s repeated warnings to truckers in a phone conversation with Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday, saying authorities will not allow any oversized loads through the tunnel for any reason.
“Our response is ‘no oversized loads through the tunnel under any circumstances for the time being,'” he stated.” “If someone is trying to build something and you keep on knocking stuff out of that construction site, it’s going to take longer to build.”
Brown added that the few drivers who attempt to “sneak through” the tunnel exacerbate the problems and add to the construction timeline. He suggested that drivers who want to see the tunnel open sooner take the detour to give construction crews more time to work.
“They want the shorter route, but the fact is if you take the longer route for now, we’re going to get this repaired and you can take that shorter route later on,” according to him.
Those who do not follow the rules will face citations and lose their permits, Brown added.
‘Bear With Us’
Wyoming Department of Transportation District 3 Public Relations Specialist Stephanie Harsha told Cowboy State Daily construction crews have been working closely with WHP to find a solution that benefits everyone during the tunnel repair process. Construction crews, she said, may not be on track to complete the repairs before the end of the year, though.
“It will just depend on how much work they can get done before winter,” she told me.
Harsha warned that trucks that ignore the detour and enter the tunnel could cause a “huge disruption” that would impede other vehicles, result in closures, and cause significant damage to tunnel infrastructure. This, she claimed, would only delay the project’s completion date.
“We’re just asking the public to bear with us,” she told me. “We are working as quickly as we can to get that work done.”
Bad players
According to City of Green River Communications Administrator Steve Core, the tunnel was closed last week to repair the internal barriers that separate eastbound and westbound traffic, which were “more of a hinderance than the oversized loads.”
“We’ve just seen some bad players come through there and hit those barriers and skewed them off, so they have to close them down to get them straightened back up,” he told me.
Core added that he believes most truck drivers are following the new rules and avoiding the tunnel as requested.
“We’re not seeing a lot of oversized loads coming through Green River, they are supposed to go around,” Core informed the crowd. “It appears to me a lot of those oversized trucks are actually heeding the warning not to go through the tunnels or the city of Green River, but you obviously have some outliers.”
While Core acknowledged that drivers who take the detour are traveling “quite a ways around,” the city of Green River will occasionally allow oversized loads to pass through in emergency situations, such as when a train derailment necessitated the delivery of heavy equipment to assist in the resolution of the situation.
These large vehicles, however, can occasionally cause damage to the city’s streets. Core explained that the city is working with the state to resurface some of the roads damaged by large vehicles and repair the outdated underlying utilities.
These repairs would also allow the city to become ADA compliant, which it has not been until now, he said.
Core predicted that tunnel construction would take until June 2026. Until then, drivers will have to be patient.
“I don’t know what else you can do, we’ve got warning signs over the interstate that oversized loads are not allowed through the tunnels, plan accordingly,” he went on.
