YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyoming – If you visited Yellowstone National Park this summer, there’s a good chance you saw a decent amount of construction. Bridge replacements, building improvements, work on historic buildings, etc. So what exactly are these projects?
Two major bridge replacements are currently ongoing, the Yellowstone River Bridge and the Lewis River Bridge. The Lewis River Bridge replacement, located on the south entrance road near Lewis Falls, seeks to improve visitor safety and create accessible parking and a viewing area for the falls. It’s set to cost a total of $37 million, with work going on downstream from the existing bridge to maintain visitor access.
The Yellowstone River Bridge is a bigger project, costing a total of $134 million. The project replaces the 1963 Yellowstone River Bridge near Tower Junction while modernizing 3.5 miles of roadway, pullouts, and ancillary facilities. The new one will be 1,175 feet long and 162 feet high, both longer and higher than the existing bridge.
Throughout the whole park, hundreds of employee housing units have been seeing major renovations since 2019, a project that will continue until 2026. The entire renovation project is set to cost $30 million. Additionally, two historic buildings are seeing rehabilitation, the Historic Laurel Dorm and the Historic Fort Yellowstone. Together, those two projects will cost $43 million.
Plenty of other major projects will continue over the years. Over 4.5 million people visit Yellowstone National Park every year, meaning roads and facilities see a lot of wear and tear. Work is limited to the short and busy summer season, too, so guests are likely to continue seeing constructions as long as they visit.
