Casper Council Agrees to Move Forward With Beautification Ideas

At the Casper City Council meeting on Tuesday, they heard from members of the Metropolitan Planning Organization on the benefits and costs of installing various improvements to overpasses in the city.

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Specifically, they discussed what they would do to the I-25 interchange at Poplar Street, Center Street, Mckinley Street, and F Street, with $800,000 in funding coming from the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and the remaining $460,000 coming from one cent funds, for a total cost of $1,260,000.

Previous proposals by the city had included shrubbery and tiered structures around the overpass, but due to the cost and maintenance of those additions, the proposal given to the council did not include those features.

The project would consist of adding RBG lights to the underside of the overpasses, allowing the city to brighten up the area at night and adding any special colors for the 4th of July or Saint Patricks Day, along with a lining on the sides of the road in a diamond pattern.

Councilmember Kyle Gamroth asked city manager Carter Napier about the flexibility the city would have to change things, to which Napier responded by saying that they need to spend the money given to them by WYDOT or lose it forever and that it would be much easier to install something like lights through WYDOT rather than by the city.

While the council agreed to move forward with the liner and the RGB lights, nothing is set in stone as of yet, as the projects won't begin until 2023 and 2025.

Before hearing about the construction plans of WYDOT, the council also heard about the benefits of adding wayfinding signs, which would cost between $2,500 and $6,500 each, and the council did not settle on whether or not they wanted to spend the money given to them by WYDOT on those signs.

At previous meetings, councilmember Bruce Knell had spoken out against adding wayfinding signs but didn't mention anything this time around, while Gamroth signaled his interest in adding the signs.