Interstate 80 in Wyoming

Interstate 80 in Wyoming

I-80
Get started Evanston
End Pine Bluffs
Length 403 mi
Length 648 km
Route
  • Utah3 West Evanston
  • 5 Evanston
  • 6 East Evanston
  • 10 County Road 180
  • 13 Divide Road
  • 18 → Kemmerer
  • 21 Coal Road
  • 23 Bear Hat Road
  • 24 Piedmont Road
  • 28 frontage road
  • 30 County Road 202
  • 33 frontage road
  • 34 Fort Bridger
  • 39 SR-412
  • 41 Lyman
  • 48 Business Route 80
  • 53 Church Butte Road
  • 61 frontage road
  • 66 → Kemmerer
  • 68 Little America
  • 72 County Road 85
  • 83 SR-372
  • 85 James Town
  • 89 West Green River
  • 91 Green River
  • 99 Purple Sage
  • 102 West Rock Springs
  • 103 North Rock Springs
  • 104 → Jackson
  • 107 East Rock Springs
  • 111 SR-370
  • 122 SR-371
  • 130 Point of Rocks
  • 136 frontage road
  • 139 turnaround
  • 142 Bitter Creek Road
  • 152 Table Rock
  • 156 unnamed road
  • 158 Tipton
  • 165 Red Desert Road
  • 173 Wamsutter
  • 184 unnamed road
  • 187 Baggs
  • 196 County Road 47
  • 201 Daley Road
  • 204 Knobs Road
  • 206 frontage road
  • 209 Flying J
  • 211 West Rawlins
  • 214 South Rawlins
  • 215 East Rawlins
  • 219 Sinclair
  • 221 Sinclair
  • 228 County Road 347
  • 235 → Medicine Bow
  • 238 unnamed road
  • 255 Elk Mountain
  • 260 Elk Mountain
  • 267 Elk Mountain-Arlington Road
  • 272 SR-13
  • 279 Cooper Cove Road
  • 290 County Road 59
  • 297 SR-12
  • 310 North Laramie
  • 311 West Laramie
  • 313 Laramie
  • 316 East Laramie
  • 323 Happy Jack Road
  • 335 Buford
  • 339 Remount Road
  • 342 Granite
  • 348 SR-225
  • 357-370: Cheyenne
  • 357 RoundTop Road
  • 358 Lincoln Highway
  • 359 → Denver / Casper
  • 362 Greeley Highway
  • 364 College Drive
  • 367 Campstool Road
  • 370 Laramie County Fairgrounds
  • 377 SR-217
  • 386 Burns
  • 391 County Road 154
  • 401 Pine Bluffs
  • Nebraska

Interstate 80 or I -80 is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The freeway forms an east-west route through the south of the state, from the Utah border through Rock Springs, Laramie, and Cheyenne to the Nebraska border. The road crosses the Rocky Mountains. The highway is 648 kilometers long.

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Travel directions

I-80 at Green River.

I-80 at Elk Mountain in the winter.

Interstate 80 in Utah comes from Salt Lake City and crosses the Wyoming border near the town of Evanston. I-80 runs here at 2,000 meters above sea level. East of Evanston there are three unimportant mountain passes of about 2,200 meters. However, the mountains around are not much higher. East of Evanston, US 189 also branches off. This is followed by an approximately 140-kilometre stretch to Green River. I-80 runs largely through desolate rangeland, with only partially irrigated agriculture. West of Green River, US 30 merges with I-80.

Around the town of Green River, I-80 leads through a somewhat more mountainous area and has a short tunnel here. Green River is located at an altitude of approximately 1,850 meters, surrounded by barren mountains with peaks of up to 2,300 meters. Just 20 miles to the east, I-80 passes Rock Springs, where US 191 connects. After Rock Springs there is a 180-kilometer long route to Rawlins, the highway here leads through lonely desert area that is often around 2,000 meters above sea level. There are no real places on this route except for a few truck stops and hamlets.

Rawlins is a small town at an altitude of 2,000 meters. US 287 also merges here, creating a 20-mile double-numbered I-80, US 30, and US 287 east of Rawlins as far as Walcott. At Walcott these routes split, I-80 follows a higher route on the slopes of the Medicine Bow Mountains and US 30/287 follows a more northerly route that is somewhat lower. There is then a 120 kilometer long route to Laramie. I-80 here reaches an elevation of 2,401 meters above sea level. To the south are mountains with peaks up to 3,600 meters, with views of higher forests. Then you descend to Laramie at 2,100 meters altitude.

In Laramie, US 30 rejoins and crosses US 287, which continues south. Laramie is a small college town. East of Laramie follows the steepest part of I-80, the highway here leads through a mountain range with peaks around 2,700 meters and reaches an elevation of 2,633 meters at Sherman Summit, the highest point on I-80 in Wyoming. This is also the last mountain area on the I-80 route, followed by a gradual descent to Cheyenne, which lies on the High Plains. One leaves the Rocky Mountains here.

Cheyenne is located at an altitude of more than 1,800 meters in barren rangeland. In Cheyenne one crosses Interstate 25. Here you also cross the US 85 and the US 30 splits off here again and then runs parallel to I-80. East of Cheyenne, I-80 and US 30 rejoin for 50 kilometers through the barren plains to the border with Nebraska. This is the only portion of I-80 through Wyoming that passes through more agricultural land where the land is cultivated. At Pine Bluffs, the border follows with Nebraska, then Interstate 80 in Nebraska continues east across the High Plains to North Platte and finally Omaha.

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History

I-80’s predecessor was the historic Lincoln Highway, which became part of US 30 in Wyoming from 1926. Historically, the route of I-80 was the primary migrant route to the western United States, as it was the only route that did not require difficult mountain passes. The Oregon Trail is the historic predecessor from the 1830s-1840s.

Construction of I-80 became topical with the creation of the Interstate Highway system in 1956. Construction began almost immediately, as early as August 1959, the first section of I-80 in Wyoming, the Rawlins bypass, was opened. Shortly thereafter, the first longer stretch opened in the Great Divide Basin. The highway was subsequently fragmented but built at a rapid pace during the 1960s, becoming more and more complete by the late 1960s. The Rock Springs Bypass opened in 1964, the Evanston Bypass in 1968, and the Green River Bypass in 1969. The Laramie bypass was opened in 1966, as was the route around Cheyenne.

Most of Interstate 80 is built directly over or parallel to US 30. An exception was between Laramie and Wolcott Junction, where US 30 passed through Medicine Bow below. It was decided to build I-80 closer to the base of the Medicine Bow Mountains via an approximately 20-mile shorter route. This stretch of I-80 is approximately 400 meters higher than US 30 via Medicine Bow. This section of I-80 was built through undeveloped land and therefore opened in one go, a 124-kilometer stretch that opened on October 3, 1970. This was the largest opening of all Interstate Highways in the United States up to that point. In 1977, the last two sections east of Cheyenne opened to traffic and Interstate 80 was completed in Wyoming.

In the first years after opening, there were major problems with accessibility in the winter. Wyoming is notorious for high winds, which cause whiteouts to develop quickly. To counter this, snow fences have been placed along parts of I-80 to reduce snow dunes and snowdrifts. Long stretches of I-80 can also be closed with barriers if the conditions are too unsafe.

Opening history

Some of these “exits” should be read as milepost.

From Unpleasant Length Date
Exit 217 Exit 220 5 km 08-1959
Exit 154 Exit 172 29 km 09-1959
exit 28 Exit 34 10 km 10-1959
Exit 10 exit 28 29 km 10-1961
Exit 138 Exit 154 26 km 10-1961
Exit 321 Exit 322 2 km 10-1961
Exit 172 Exit 176 6 km 09-1962
Exit 199 Exit 211 19 km 09-1962
exit 6 Exit 10 6 km 10-1962
exit 48 exit 56 13 km 10-1962
Exit 187 Exit 199 19 km 10-1962
Exit 337 Exit 358 34 km 11-1962
Exit 317 Exit 321 6 km 09-1963
Exit 229 Exit 235 10 km 10-1963
exit 130 Exit 138 13 km 11-1963
Exit 111 exit 120 14 km 07-1964
exit 0 Exit 3 5 km 08-1964
Exit 105 Exit 111 10 km 09-1964
exit 120 exit 130 16 km 10-1964
Exit 311 Exit 313 3 km 10-1964
Exit 313 Exit 317 6 km 10-1964
Exit 176 Exit 187 18 km 10-1964
Exit 330 Exit 337 11 km 10-1964
Exit 358 Exit 359 1 km 10-1964
Exit 99 Exit105 10 km 11-1964
Exit 389 Exit 396 11 km 12-1964
Exit 211 Exit 217 10 km 01-1965
Exit 224 Exit 229 8 km 10-1965
Exit 370 Exit 389 31 km 11-1965
exit 325 Exit 330 8 km 10-1966
Exit 79 Exit 89 16 km 11-1966
Exit 220 Exit 224 6 km 12-1966
Exit 322 exit 325 5 km 12-1966
Exit 359 Exit 362 5 km 12-1966
Exit 396 Exit 399 5 km 01-1967
Exit 68 Exit 79 17 km 07-1967
Exit 3 exit 6 5 km 01-1968
exit 56 Exit 68 19 km 07-1968
Exit 34 exit 48 22 km 06-1969
Exit 89 Exit 99 16 km 10-1969
Exit 235 Exit 311 124 km 03-10-1970
Exit 362 Exit 367 8 km 03-1977
Exit 367 Exit 372 8 km 05-1977

Traffic intensities

Exit Location 2009 2013
exit 6 Evanston 13,200 15,400
Exit 68 Little America 12,200 13,400
exit 85 Green River 13,600 14,000
Exit 102 Rock Springs 19,500 17,000
Exit 211 Rawlins 11,600 12,900
Exit 300 laramie 10,200 10,400
Exit 358 Cheyenne 12,100 14.100
Exit 386 carpenter 9,500 8.900

Interstate 80 in Wyoming

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