Wyoming Highway 28

Wyoming Highway 28 (WYO 28) is a 96.46 mi Wyoming state highway known as the South Pass Highway. It travels from its split from Wyoming Highway 372 near the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge, across the high plains and over South Pass until its junction with U.S. Route 287 8 mi south of Lander.

Route description
15 mi south of the town of Fontenelle, Wyoming Highway 372 splits, with Highway 28 heading Northeast. It crosses the Green River after 3 mi. After 25 mi, it intersects U.S. Route 191 at the small town of Farson. After 5 mi, it spurs north to "Farson Little Sandy Road", leading to Big Sandy. It continues northeast out of Sweetwater County, cuts through a small corner of Sublette County and enters Fremont County. It crosses the Continental Divide at South Pass, one of the lowest passes on the continental divide at 7550 ft. South Pass was used by settlers on the Oregon Trail. From there, there are spurs to the south leading to the South Pass Historic Site and Atlantic City. From there it curves north, travelling about 17 mi until its merge with US 287, near Lander.

History
Highway 28 generally follows the route followed by settlers on the Oregon Trail. A section of the highway 17 mi south of Lander was realigned around a new U.S. Steel mine in 1962, which created sharp and narrow turns that persisted after the mine closed in 1983. The section was removed after the original alignment restored in 2005.

The highway was extended southwest from Farson to the Fontenelle area in 1986 in response to increased soda ash shipments by truck, which required a paved road. The project was led by the Federal Highway Administration, who were granted the necessary right-of-way by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM); the agreement between the two federal agencies required that any future wildlife fence on the corridor be approved by the BLM. A 15 mi was proposed in 1991 to redirect herds of Sublette antelopes as well as livestock who had caused vehicular accidents since the extension opened. The BLM initially approved a plan with the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to fence the corridor, but WYDOT later retracted the plan following public opposition and pushback from the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish. A series of eight warning signs were installed as an alternative to the fencing plan.