Wyoming 218 decommissioned

[corco]

Laramie county had been talking with WYDOT about the possibility of decommissioning some routes within their county, and it looks like WYO 218 was the first to get the axe.

WYOs 217, 218, 219, 221, 222, and 225 are up for the axe, and although I haven't seen any press releases announcing the decommissioning of WYO 218 (or any other route), it appears the axe dropped at least on 218.

The reassurance shield is still posted on the mainline though.

I drove up to Cheyenne today to get my oil changed and eat at Chick-Fil-A and:

2 weeks ago:


and today

[Scott5114]

Call up WYDOT and ask them if you can have the shield!

[andy3175]

Hi Corco - how did you find out that some state routes were being eliminated in Laramie County? I am not surprised at the choices, although eliminating Wyo 225 would place the old Lincoln Highway into county control. Wyo 218 was always perplexing since it never seemed to go anywhere, just south to an arbitrary point, where it shifted into county maintenance the rest of the way to the Colorado state line.  Did they cover the Wyo 218 shield or scrape it off those I-80 exit signs?

Andy

[corco]

It appears the signs were covered up since the new green space is wider than the old shield.

A lot of Wyoming state highways purposes confuse me, it seems like they pretty much said "every paved county road will be state maintained"


This 2006 planning reports speculates about possible decommissioning in the future:
http://www.laramiecounty.com/_departments/_planning/_pdfs/zoning_2006/chap_7.pdf

[andy3175]

Thanks for the link ... glad you posted it.

Andy

[corco]

In other Wyoming decommissioning news, WYO 217 no longer exists either, which was a similar situation to WYO 218 as a few mile long spur heading down to a random dirt road.

[roadfro]

On a random tangent... What's the deal with the font on that BGS? The stroke looks really super wide.

[corco]

No idea. Off the top of my head that's the only BGS in Wyoming that I know of with that font. I'm unsure if I like it or not

[Android]

I know I'm a bit late in the game on this thread, but i'm new here and and just now reading back here.  I wondered why that shield had disappeared.   

As for that typeface on that BGS, it's not unique.  I've seen others, there are several between Douglas and Cheyenne on I-25.  Looks like some cross between F and E-Modified.  I like it better than the Clearview junk that is showing up nowadays.  Here's some examples:

-Andy T.

[agentsteel53]

that is indeed an odd duck of a font.  Looks a slight bit wider and a slight bit bolder than EM, but not consistently so.  Note the "o" being generally narrow, maybe EM width, while the others are almost F width.

[corco]

Android: If you're curious about the rest of the shakeup in Laramie county, what happened ended up being (thus far)

WYO 218 decommissioned
WYO 217 decommissioned
WYO 212 extended about a quarter mile west along Four Mile Rd to end at Hynds Blvd instead of Yellowstone Rd (WYO 219)
WYO 213 extended from Burns to junction US-85 due north of Burns, intersecting WYO 216 along the way- they even paved the stretch of old Lincoln Highway on the north edge of Burns

No idea on WYO 221- I have to imagine that's on the chopping block. I'll take a look at it when I go to Cheyenne this weekend

[Android]

Thanks for that.  I've always wondered about all those roads around Burns there.   I drove the 213 down from US85 thru Burns a couple of months ago.  I think I've taken about every road and route imaginable from Douglas to Fort Collins in the 10 years since I moved up here.

Was there ever or are there any plans to "finish" Horse Creek road all the way back to I-25 by Chugwater?
-Andy

[corco]

I have no idea- it would be nice. I drove that about a month ago from Chugwater to Cheyenne to clinch WYO 211 and got stuck in the middle of a cattle drive down Horse Creek Rd just north of the Laramie County line- ended up rallying down the ditch on the side of the road to overtake the cattle- it was awesome

I wonder if maybe ranchers don't want that road paved for whatever reason. If I had to venture a guess as to why it hasn't been paved (assuming WyDOT wants to), I'd guess that

[agentsteel53]

whenever I've run into a cattle drive from behind, the ranchers have always made a way through the cows for me to get past!

[corco]

I asked the guy in the back and he said "It's your outfit- do whatever you want" and I said "So go through them" and he said "It's your outfit" like he really wanted me to hit a cow so I'd have to pay for it- which I understood- here I am sitting in a car with out of state plates with a map and camera in the front seat in the absolute middle of buttf*** nowhere- I'm sure he thought I was some obnoxious rich Californian (never mind my Idaho plates)

I initially started driving like I do through sheep- since we live right along one of the main Basque sheep herd routes in Idaho and twice a year we have to drive through sheep on our way into town and just force my way through, but then I realized cows pooped everywhere and I didn't want to get cow poop on my car, so I looked at the ditch on the side, said "Hell, I've got a Jeep," put it in 4WD, and rallied down the side at about 25 MPH- it was way faster than forcing my way through the cows anyway plus the rancher at the front shot me an awesome look when I pulled back on the road

[a42887]

Interstingly enough, WYDOT already felt the need to replace the Harriman Rd sign with a new Clearview sign designed to be text-only, including both the advance notice sign and the one at the exit (in both directions).  I'll try to get a shot next time I drive by.

[corco]

Yep- they did the same thing at the old WYO 217/Hillsdale exit.