Drivers frustrated with increased traffic on Wyoming Boulevard near Interstate-25 may have a new option next year.

The city of Casper, in partnership with the Wyoming Department of Transportation, plans to build the Walsh Drive Extension, which will give Casperites one more north-south passage.

"It will go under the bridge at I-25," said the city's public works director Gary Clough, and will be an "alternate route."

Clough called the road a "necessary connection," especially because of congestion on Wyoming Boulevard on the east side of town.

The project, which has been in the works for roughly 10 years, was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission earlier this week.

Jeff Goetz, a public information specialist with WYDOT, said bids for the road may be sent out in the first half of 2009, with construction following. It's currently estimated to cost $1.6 million.

In addition to the city and state, NOWCAP Services also participated in the process since the proposed extension cuts one of their lots in half.

"It will be a nice convenience to have a connection to Yellowstone," said NOWCAP executive director Chris Boston. "We have worked with them for the past 10 or 11 years on this."

NOWCAP purchased the nearly six acres of land adjacent to its current facility in 1991, Boston said. The new roadway will divide the parcel in half, leaving roughly 2.5 acres on one side and 1.5 acres on the other.

The social services agency recently finished an expansion and renovation that included three new supported living sites, and Boston said he doesn't have any plans for the two new lots.

While WYDOT is funding the project, it falls under a program called the Surface Transportation Urban Program. The program works with local governments to address needs in their communities related, in part, to increased traffic and changes in land use.

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com