Which Wyoming Road Ranks As One Of The Worst In The Country?

Interstate 80 travels through 11 states and is one of the top 10 deadliest and most dangerous to drive in the United States. Wyoming has over 400 miles of I-80 and ranks as one of the worst stretches of road in the country.

High Winds, winter weather, black ice, speed and distracted driving are all factors in accidents on I-80 through Wyoming. 2023 has been an extremely deadly year according to a Facebook post on the Wyoming Highway Patrol's page, with 16 deaths already since the beginning of the year. Large pile ups, stranded drivers and frustrated travelers have been the big highlights of the year and we're only just getting started.

A report has been released by the Wyoming Department of Transportation that says, on average, I-80 has been closed 50 times over the last 5 winters. In 2023, the Interstate has been closed quite often due to winter conditions and wind. The January 2023 WYDOT Route Closure Report shows that I-80 was closed over 14% of the month.

With an average of 21 deaths per year, the Wyoming stretch of I-80 has one of the highest average deaths in the US. This has brought up the suggestion from many to figure out ways to re-route the stretch of road that seems to be have the largest number of issues.

In 2020, a proposed suggestion was to move a stretch of I-80 a bit north to avoid the Elk Mountain area, and build the new highway from Laramie to Medicine Bow and rejoin the current road near Walcott. The cost would be huge and isn't really a guarantee that it would fix the problem.

This year there was a huge pile up on I-80 at Arlington, which is right in the middle of the proposed by-pass area.