This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a $22 million grant to the National Park Service (NPS) to “modernize and reconstruct a segment of the Norris to Golden Gate roadway in Yellowstone National Park.”
Golden Gate Canyon is in the northwestern section of Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park. Building a bridge through this canyon was one of the most expensive projects the original builders faced in the park. It’s ready for an upgrade, which will benefit the parks’ millions of visitors each year.
NPS calls the “exceptionally difficult and challenging” road “a critical transportation link to Yellowstone’s major destinations.”
The newly funded Yellowstone National Park project will:
- Improve safety and pedestrian access
- Alleviate rockfall hazards
- Upgrade vehicle pullouts and parking areas
- Add new pedestrian facilities to separate people from traffic
NPS hopes the improvements to this critical roadway will support tourism and allow for a better visitor experience.
“Good transportation elements are key to experiencing the great outdoors at Yellowstone National Park,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the press release. “The grant for the National Park Service will make travel there more convenient for tourists, residents, workers and local businesses.”
Additional Projects
Yellowstone’s project is one of five receiving funding under FHWA’s Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects Program.
Other projects include road and highway improvements in Alabama and North Carolina and construction of multi-use trails in Oregon and Illinois.