Motorists tired of driving over Teton Pass had better get used to it, because they probably won’t be driving under it anytime soon.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation said a proposed tunnel under the often-hazardous pass would cost about $260 million. That’s what WYDOT spent last year on all its construction projects.

According to recently released research, the 1.4-mile two-lane tunnel that was studied would also cost $500,000 a year to maintain. The conclusion, WYDOT staff said, is that “the costs are too high and there are too many variables and unknowns to justify the continued investigation of constructing a tunnel through Teton Pass.”

But supporters aren’t ready to let such doubts roadblock their dream.

Jackson Hole resident Steve Duerr, a lawyer and former chamber of commerce director, still thinks the tunnel is a good idea.

“We need a clear 2020 tunnel vision,” he said. “I believe we can at least have the ground-breaking in seven years.”

Duerr said the tunnel would improve safety, avoid periodic winter shutdowns because of avalanches and “could tie the valleys together.”

“There’s a lot of people over here on the Driggs side of the mountain who commute to Jackson every day,” said Kerry Buxton, a member of the Teton Valley Business Development Center, a pro-business group aligned with the area’s chamber of commerce. “It’s pretty up on top but it becomes a hazard, especially in winter.”

WYDOT says traffic over Teton Pass averages 5,000 vehicles daily.

From his side, Buxton said, “in the morning you can see a line of red taillights heading up the pass and at night you can see a line of white coming back.”

The idea of a tunnel has recurred over the years, most recently last May when Duerr suggested it at a WYDOT meeting in Jackson.

Duerr said Sunday he’s talked to tunnel experts who told him the WYDOT numbers may be too high.

WYDOT’s study was of a tunnel from this side of Glory Bowl ­— the most frequent and dangerous avalanche areas — to the other side near mile 11.6. Highway 22 would be underground for about 7,400 feet.

WYDOT assumed two 12-foot travel lanes and two eight-foot shoulders. The bore would be about 15 feet high.

Cost estimates for building and maintenance were based on the 1.7-mile Eisenhower Tunnel, which takes I-70 under the Continental Divide between Denver and Breckenridge.

The WYDOT cost estimate didn’t include disposing of an estimated 200,000 cubic yards of excavated rock.

WYDOT calculated that a 40-year bond issue to pay the cost would bring monthly payments for the tunnel, with maintenance, to $1.67 million.

If the project were to be done as a toll tunnel, WYDOT said, the cost of paying for maintenance and bonds would be more than $11 for a one-way trip.

Duerr suggested employers might be willing to pay some of that cost.