Town-to-park pathway gets stimulus funding
By Cara Froedge, Jackson Hole, Wyo.
June 20, 2009
Teton County has received $1 million in stimulus funding to build a pathway connection from town to Grand Teton National Park.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation Commission voted Thursday to commit $700,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to the project.
The funding is in addition to $300,000 already allocated by the agency, bringing the department’s total contribution for the project to $1 million.
County spokeswoman Charlotte Reynolds said the funding is the third allocation the community has received from the stimulus program.
“WYDOT’s commitment to this project is an enormous benefit for Teton County, both as a huge help to us in completing the pathway and providing a much needed boost for our local engineering and construction firms,” Pathways Coordinator Brian Schilling said in a news release.
The North 89 Pathway Project will connect a multiuse non-motorized pathway between Jackson and the south boundary of Grand Teton National Park overlooking the National Elk Refuge.
In the project’s first phase, a pathway will be constructed on the east side of Highway 89 between Jackson and the Grand Teton turnout north of the Jackson National Fish Hatchery.
In the second phase, work will continue on the pathway north from the turnout to the Gros Ventre River, meeting the approved Grand Teton pathway system currently under design.
Jackson Hole Community Pathways plans to bid the first phase in July. Construction is to start in 2010.
In addition to the stimulus money, the pathways group secured a $3 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration.
