Study begins for East Allison Road improvements

Noah Zahn, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne
·2 min read

May 17—CHEYENNE — Laramie County has dedicated around $2.4 million in sixth-penny sales tax funds to support updates to East Allison Road.

The Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) held a meeting Tuesday to hear public input as the organization begins planning future upgrades and developments to the road corridor.

Currently, the 1.6-mile stretch of road goes from South Greeley Highway to South College Drive, though the road is disconnected about halfway through Avenue C.

The goal of this MPO study is to identify ways the county can connect East Allison Road from Avenue C to Niobrara Energy Park, improve overall safety, address drainage issues, enhance pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and provide updated cost estimates for construction.

Jeff Noffsinger, director of the Cheyenne MPO, said around 15 community members attended Tuesday's meeting and expressed support for more sidewalks, pavement surface improvements and better connections to the Greater Cheyenne Greenway.

To successfully connect East Allison Road from South College Drive to South Greeley Highway, the county will need to acquire one parcel to begin construction.

As the study is being done in-house at MPO, Noffsinger said he hopes it will be complete and passed on to the county relatively quickly.

"We're going to have a stakeholder meeting with some of the county folks in early June, and, after that, we'll have a presentation back in the neighborhood on what our recommendations are," Noffsinger said. "From that, we'll probably make a presentation to the county commissioners and then turn it over to the county for implementation."

MPO calculated there are currently around 1,400 vehicles per day traveling on East Allison Road between South Greeley Highway and Avenue C. Traffic models predict that, with the connection to South College Drive, that number will increase to around 4,800 cars per day in 25 years.

The MPO study is not funded by the county's sixth-penny funds, but through the MPO budget, which received federal funds distributed by the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The $2.4 million in county funds will be put toward design and construction, though it has yet to be announced when construction will begin on these corridor developments.

A survey for the public to offer input on the East Allison Road Corridor Plan is available on the MPO website at plancheyenne.org.

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.