Central Federal Lands Highway Division

Media Information
Beartooth Highway

Federal Highway Administration launches travel information program for
Beartooth Highway Projects in Montana and Wyoming.

The Federal Highway Administration's Western and Central Federal Lands Highway Divisions are expanding and intensifying a public information program starting this spring to disseminate information about the reconstruction of the Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212) in northern Wyoming and southern Montana. The program allows travelers to Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding National Forests, as well as the gateway communities of Cody, Wyoming, and Red Lodge and Cooke City, Montana, to better plan their trips, thus minimizing inconveniences, during reconstruction of two segments of the Beartooth Highway over the next several years.

The Beartooth Public Information Program, or PIP, is being coordinated with the National Park Service, U.S Forest Service, and the Wyoming and Montana Departments of Transportation, and was developed in coordination with Chambers of Commerce in 10 area communities, as well as Travel Montana; Wyoming Tourism; various public and private travel and tourism related organizations; the Custer, Shoshone, and Gallatin National Forests, and Yellowstone National Park. The information elements of the PIP are designed to maximize distribution of messages, thereby minimizing impacts to park visitors and area communities and businesses.

The program includes a weekly update on the Internet, called an "E-Blast," which consists of an e-mail poster illustrating the delays and closures for the upcoming week. The E-Blast is also sent via e-mail to almost 200 recipients, including state tourism groups and chambers of commerce. Local chambers then forward the E-Blasts to area businesses that serve visitors and the public.

The E-Blast can be found at the following web site:
http://www.cflhd.gov/FtpInternetDir/Project_Beartooth/BeartoothUpdate.pdf

A toll-free telephone hotline at 1-888-285-INFO (4636) is updated every Monday morning with weekly construction and road condition information. The hotline number is also printed on the E-Blast and project flyers and posters, which can be found in the area served by the Beartooth Highway. The hotline will begin operation in May this year.

More details about the project can be found at
http://www.cflhd.gov/projects/wy/beartooth/index.cfm

Please send your questions or comments to CFL.Webmaster@fhwa.dot.gov