Among those hardest hit by state cutbacks was the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation. The state appropriated $50 million for transportation projects in the next biennium, down from $200 million for the previous cycle. The highway program will maintain its federal funding level, with $250 million for interstate construction and maintenance.

The budget shortfall is exacerbated by the fact that a second round of federal stimulus money did not come through as the department had hoped. The department already spent the $168 million in federal stimulus dollars it received last year, and without federal funding to make up the difference, a significant drop in highway and transportation projects is expected for the coming years, according to a department spokesperson.

New school construction also took a hit compared to recent years. The Wyoming School Facilities Commission was awarded half of what it requested for capital construction projects, according to Nancy Nuttbrock, the commission’s deputy director of design and construction.

For the next fiscal biennium, the State Legislature appropriated roughly $135 million for 12 school capital construction projects statewide—10 of which will be located in school districts that fall in the southern half of the state. Projects include two new elementary schools in Cheyenne and a new elementary school in Casper. An additional $50 million was approved for major maintenance projects spread across the state’s 48 school districts. 

“We may not be building as many of the big sexy projects as people might like, but the major maintenance is continual spending and steady work,” says Nuttbrock, who is hopeful that the commission can stretch its dollars.

“Construction prices are in the owner’s favor right now, and we will do as much as we can with the money that has been appropriated. If we can see enough savings per project, then we might be able to start an additional, 30th project,” she says.

On the local level, the downsized state budget means that town, city, and county governments will receive less money from the state this year, and have to cut spending or make up the difference somehow.

“There hasn’t been much work coming from municipal and local governments as is, and even tighter budgets will mean fewer projects over the next couple years,” Downing says.

Despite the state’s funding woes, the University of Wyoming in Laramie is having “very fortunate times,” says Jessica Lowell, director of institutional communications for the university.

Through a state-matching program, the university has been able to double its endowments, and keep more than a half billion in construction and renovation projects moving forward, Lowell says. The university is also capitalizing on falling construction prices, she adds.

A hub of construction activity, the university has several projects in planning and underway, including the $54-million College of Business, $10-million Berry Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, $20-million Energy Resource Center, and $24.9-million biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory.

In addition, GE Energy is working with the university to develop an advanced coal gasification research and technology center. The $100-million design-build project will be located east of central Cheyenne, at the intersection of Interstates 25 and 80. The cost will be split, with the state’s $50 million portion coming from state appropriations of historic federal Abandoned Mine Land Funds. Construction is expected to begin by early 2011.  

One of the major construction projects that survived the state budget cuts is the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne. The $66-million, 150,000-sq-ft facility is being funded by multiple sources, including more than $20 million in state appropriations to the Wyoming Business Council and the University of Wyoming.

Pending final approval, construction is set to begin in June, with the facility opening by early 2012. Denver’s Saunders Construction Inc. will serve as the general contractor and draw on local subcontractors to help stimulate the local economy.

Much of the major construction activity in Cheyenne is concentrated at Swan Ranch, a 3,200-acre mixed-use development by Casper-based Granite Peak Development. The first phase of the project is the 1,300-acre industrial portion called the Cheyenne Logistics Hub.

The $10-million hub will capitalize on the property’s access to the Burlington North Santa Fe Railway, Union Pacific Railroad, Interstate 80 and Interstate 25. Five manufacturing businesses, including California-based Midwestern Pipeline Co., have already committed to building at the site, according to Rich Fairservis, a principal with Granite Peak Development.

Near the site, state and federal money is funding a new $15-million highway interchange called the High Plains Exchange. The project, being built by Cheyenne-based Reiman Corp., should be complete later this summer.

The state of Wyoming is building a $15-million, 5,000-sq-ft tourism information center adjacent to the hub on 35 acres donated to the state by Granite Peak Development. Denver’s Anderson Mason Dale Architects is the architect-of-record. The project is currently in design and anticipates soliciting bids for construction services by spring 2011.