Back To School Week Brings Second Street Closures To Casper

The joke is that Wyoming has two seasons: winter and construction season. I guess it's not a joke when it's reality. We've sure been experiencing that for the last few years, and in 2026, I feel it's been one of the busiest construction seasons we've had. Road closures, single-lane highways, detours, and dodging orange barrels and cones are all becoming real skills we've learned to navigate.

Right on cue, another closure you need to know about is going to jack traffic up on 2nd Street near the hospital in the heart of Casper. Second Street between Conwell and Washington Streets will be closed intermittently in both directions for construction work at Banner Wyoming Medical Center.

Google Maps

Here's when travel will be affected:

Friday 8/28: 6 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Monday 8/31 - Friday 9/4: 7 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

As you can see, these closures will affect first-week-of-school traffic. This adds stress for parents and students trying to get back into a school-time routine. Planning ahead now will help alleviate some of that stress.

If your route to school is to cruise down 2nd Street, I'd suggest using 1st Street or detouring at Jackson onto 3rd Street.

POPLAR STREET CONSTRUCTION UPDATE:

Another change is coming (fingers crossed), this time for the better: crews are expected to open a single lane for both northbound and southbound traffic between Collins and CY on Poplar.

The lanes should be open by Tuesday, September 1. This will be a welcome change, especially for the folks at Albertsons. Since the road closure began, drivers have been using the Albertsons parking lot as an alternate route and acting as if it's OK to drive through the lot at high speeds.

Opening the lanes will ease frustrations a little bit, but not completely. This is a high-traffic area, and it will still be slow-moving. Continuing to use an alternate route may still be in your best interest.