Highway Patrol Cracks Down On Oversized Loads Trying To Use Green River Tunnel

Wyoming Highway Patrol officials say they are cracking down on truck drivers who continue to bring oversized loads through the Green River Tunnel in the wake of a deadly crash there earlier this year.

The tunnel was the site of a 26-vehicle pileup in February that killed three people. The massive, fiery crash damaged the tunnel, requiring it to undergo a lengthy reconstruction process that limits the size of cars and trucks allowed through.

While a detour for oversized loads around the tunnel can add upward of 90 minutes to a driver’s route, several officials told Cowboy State Daily the risk of pushing an oversized load through the tunnel is not worth the reward.

Wyoming Highway Patrol issued a strong warning to truck drivers last week after it caught a driver who authorities said purposely skipped the Port of Entry, drove an oversized load without a permit and ignored road closure signs. The violations amounted to more than $800 in fines.

The driver, authorities said, was one of several who tried to skirt the rules in recent days.

“Let this serve as a reminder that NO OVERSIZE LOADS, under any circumstances, will be allowed through the Green River Tunnel and, additionally through the city of Green River,” WHP said in a statement. “All commercial drivers hauling oversized loads must follow routes given on their oversize/overweight permits. All oversize/overweight loads must have permit or permission prior to entering Wyoming.”

Crackdown

The traffic stop comes about two weeks after WHP's Commercial Carrier Division reported troopers having to stop a trucker carrying an oversize load just before the truck was going to enter the tunnel.

Troopers found that the driver had deviated off of his permitted route, and they had to temporarily shut down eastbound traffic to move the load off of the interstate, WHP reported.

The driver received citations for violating permit terms and conditions, as well as failing to observe closed signs.

WHP Public Information Officer Aaron Brown echoed the agency's repeated warnings to truckers in a phone conversation with Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday, saying authorities will not allow any oversized loads through the tunnel for any reason.

“Our response is ‘no oversized loads through the tunnel under any circumstances for the time being,’” he said. “If someone is trying to build something and you keep on knocking stuff out of that construction site, it’s going to take longer to build.”

Brown added that the few drivers that try to “sneak through” the tunnel are exacerbating the problems and adding even more to the construction timeline. He said that drivers who want to see the tunnel open sooner should follow the detour to allow construction crews more time to work.

“They want the shorter route, but the fact is if you take the longer route for now, we’re going to get this repaired and you can take that shorter route later on,” he said.

Those who fail to follow the rules will receive citations and lose their permits, Brown added.

‘Bear With Us’

Wyoming Department of Transportation District 3 Public Relations Specialist Stephanie Harsha told Cowboy State Daily construction crews have been working closely with WHP to find a solution that benefits everyone during the tunnel repair process. Construction crews, she said, may not be on track to complete the repairs before the end of the year, though.

“It will just depend on how much work they can get done before winter,” she said.

Harsha warned that trucks that ignore the detour and take the tunnel could cause a “huge disruption” that could impede other vehicles, lead to closures and cause substantial damage to tunnel infrastructure. This, she said, could only delay the project’s completion timeline.

“We’re just asking the public to bear with us,” she said. “We are working as quickly as we can to get that work done.”

Bad Players

City of Green River Communications Administrator Steve Core told Cowboy State Daily the tunnel was closed last week to repair the internal barriers that divide eastbound and westbound traffic, which he said was “more of a hinderance than the oversized loads.” 

“We’ve just seen some bad players come through there and hit those barriers and skewed them off, so they have to close them down to get them straightened back up,” he said. 

Core added, however, he believes most truck drivers are obeying the new rules and avoiding the tunnel as requested.

“We’re not seeing a lot of oversized loads coming through Green River, they are supposed to go around,” Core said. “It appears to me a lot of those oversized trucks are actually heeding the warning not to go through the tunnels or the city of Green River, but you obviously have some outliers.”

While Core acknowledged drivers who take the detour are going “quite a ways around,” the city of Green River will sometimes allow oversized loads to pass through in emergency situations, such when a train derailment required the delivery of heavy equipment to help resolve the situation. 

These large vehicles, however, can sometimes cause damage to the city’s roads. Core explained the city is partnering with the state to repave some of the roads damaged by large vehicles and to repair the outdated underlying utilities.

These repairs would also allow the city to become ADA compliant, something it has been lacking until now, he said.

Core predicted it could take until June of 2026 to complete the tunnel construction. Until then, drivers will need to be patient.

“I don’t know what else you can do, we’ve got warning signs over the interstate that oversized loads are not allowed through the tunnels, plan accordingly,” he said. 

Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.