CHEYENNE - Wyoming officials say the federal government must do more to cover the costs of handling the increase in truck traffic on Interstate 80 over the coming years.
Interstate 80 is the main east-west route across the state. It now averages more than 6,000 trucks per day, and officials say that number is expected to rise to more than 12,000 a year by the year 2020.
John Cox is director of the Wyoming Department of Transportation. He addressed legislators at a committee hearing in Cheyenne Wednesday. Cox says that if federal funding remains at the current level, Wyoming stands to get $6.2-Billion over the next 30 years for the entire state. But he says the state will need more than that amount to cover required maintenance and improvements on I-80 alone.
Del McOmie is chief engineer at WY-DOT. He says options for paying for the required maintenance and improvements on I-80 include possibly increasing gas taxes or imposing tolls.
McOmie also says he's been contacted by foreign entities interested in buying I-80 from the state to operate it as a private business enterprise. But he says he's not sure that selling the highway to foreigners would be in the interests of Wyoming.