The Wyoming Department of Transportation will delay numerous road construction projects in and around Teton County, in some cases by several years, because of budget issues.

Department officials said they were forced to delay the projects because of increased construction costs and declining state and federal funding.

“This year, more than any other, money is tight and the department is putting their resources where they will do the most good,” WYDOT engineer John Eddins said in a statement last week. “Inflation in construction costs, increases in the cost of [asphalt] and because federal and state funding levels are not keeping up with the inflation all causes WYDOT to delay needed road construction projects and have a negative effect on WYDOT’s construction budget.”

As a result, WYDOT has pushed back the start date on numerous construction projects across the state, including several in the vicinity of Teton County.

A project in Hoback Junction, including the replacement of the Snake River bridge, was pushed back to 2011, one year later than the original start date.

Widening the highway through Hoback Junction was also put off for several years, with its new start date slated for 2016. The project had been scheduled for a two-phase construction process that would start in 2012.

A project to widen Highway 89 to five lanes between Alpine Junction and Etna was pushed back two years. The project is now slated to begin in 2014.

Another project that would widen Highway 89 to five lanes from Etna to Thayne also was delayed by a year. The project is now expected to start in 2016.

Numerous projects were delayed but were not assigned a start date. Those projects include a resurfacing project along Highway 26/89 just north of Jackson, a similar project on Highway 89 in Afton, a reconstruction of three miles of Highway 191 near Hoback Junction and a reconstruction project on Highway 390.

“We’re only going to be able to do about half the miles of road improvements as we have been able to do in the past,” Eddins said in a statement. “We will not be able to do the improvements that are needed now.”

The projects are part of the department’s State Transportation Improvement Program, which lists projects the department plans to start within five years.

WYDOT spokeswoman Theresa Herbin said changes in traffic volume, road conditions or funding could easily bump a project back onto the list.

“STIP is a liquid document,” Herbin said. “It’s very flexible and even though some projects slid outside of the STIP, it doesn’t mean that they’re not on our radar.”

Herbin said department staff decided which projects would be delayed through a combination of factors, including the age of the road, the condition of pavement and bridges, the cost of maintenance, traffic volume, safety factors and the amount and type of funding available for a particular project.