Commuting between Rawlins/Hanna and Saratoga (apartment, how much, hotel)

[defiant_357]

Hello everyone,

I recently started a job in Saratoga, and while the area is beautiful, I am finding the housing situation less than ideal. I have been looking at houses in Saratoga but am finding everything to be more expensive than I am comfortable spending, however I have noticed housing in Hanna or Rawlins is quite a bit more reasonable.

I was wondering if it is feasible to commute between either Rawlins or Hanna and Saratoga in the winter. Also which town would be an easier commute out of the two? I know the roads can close but I heard you can get a pass that will let you get through if you are a local. Anyone do this commute or know anything about it?

Thank you!

[branDcalf]

Hanna to Saratoga is doable. I drove it three days a week for a couple years.

I avoid I-80 whenever possible, year round. There is a way, across country/gravel roads, between Saratoga and Rawlins. But I would not recommend that for daily travel. Pretty hard on a vehicle, and can be impassable due to either snow or mud at times.

I found housing in Saratoga to be "difficult," too. I was fortunate to find a suitable place in Encampment.

[Ltdumbear]

'Feasible' ?

Regardless of what anyone-else might think (or say) I reckon you'll find out, soon-enough.

[NW Crow]

Find out cost of gas per roundtrip, add maintenance & depreciation cost of vehicle use per mile, decide how much your time to worth. Multiply and add it all up then compare to the housing cost differential. Odds are very likely you will spend more money and time equivalent driving to try to save.

[StealthRabbit]

Get a VW diesel (50- mpg) and brew your own fuel. (appleseed processor, distributor in SLC)

But... time,,, Hopefully work (3) 12 hr days

Do you need a house?

How about a room?

You need to network, (not advertised) but I find seniors often have extra space, maybe apartment above garage.

[Ltdumbear]

Until Starfleet manages to perfect and mass-market an affordable transporter-beam, I'm thinking a horse would be a cheaper alternative, to risking the interstate during winter months.

[sunsprit]

This is a rather difficult area of Wyoming to rely upon a winter commute if you must be to work on a schedule.

With the recent increased pro-active shut-downs of I-80 by WYDOT due "to winter driving conditions", I-80 closures have been more frequent this winter than ever. WYDOT has taken this direction because the result is fewer major accidents and an easier effort to clear the roads when the storms abate. This management change is a markedly different situation than how Wyoming highways were managed years ago and is due to the much increased traffic count compared to years ago. It's simply too costly anymore to try to keep roads open as best as possible with the 'plows throughout all the hours of inclement weather conditions. It's much easier and safer to let the storms blow through for awhile and then let the plows clear the roads without having to share the road with all the mixed traffic. So, what folks could do in inclement weather driving conditions years ago simply isn't the case anymore.

Please note that just because I-80 is declared "open", it doesn't mean that the driving conditions are much better than a white-knuckle situation, frequently aggravated by the numerous semi's on the road kicking up a mobile white-out driving situation for passenger vehicles with much less visibility while they are near the semi's.

Bear in mind that there's a lot more to driving in these wintry conditions than just dealing with the road surface/black ice or snowpack on the road, which you do your best with by choosing an appropriate winter driving vehicle and proper tires. What your vehicle cannot overcome is the oft-times very limited visibility and not uncommonly "disappeared" roadway due to blowing/drifting snow over the road or the "white out" visibility which may be reduced to only a few feet in front of your vehicle. This is a windy stretch of I-80 and such conditions can frequently present for days after an active snowstorm has passed; ie, the winds pick up the snow from the adjacent acreages and blow it around near the ground for days that might otherwise be clear. Note that on days with more sunshine, some of this snow may melt when it hits the roadbed and refreeze at night to form "black ice". When you drive over this roadbed with limited visibility, your first clue that you've hit a patch of the black ice may be as your vehicle takes an uncontrolled slide off the road … catching the unwary sometimes in a wind gust that pushes your vehicle off the road.

Even with a high mpg fuel efficient vehicle, a residential move with a 100 mile per day commute adds up if you've got to do it all year. Consider, too, your time to do so. That's the better part of a 2-hour chunk of your day in ideal conditions and can easily turn into several hours during inclement driving conditions. Do you really want to devote this much of your life and exposure to a high risk driving situation for days on end each winter?

Of course, there will be days during the winter driving season when conditions aren't so bad and the commute will seem straightforward/routine. But they will be more than offset by those days when the conditions are marginal or the roads are closed.

Yes, WYDOT has a program for locals to sign up for passes which allow for exemptions when the roads are closed. I am on this program which allows for a travel pass over closed roads to access work in town or return to home. WYDOT emails a specific letter for each circumstance and it's time of authorization. It gives permission to be out on the road for that specific travel. But here's the rub: effectively, you're on your own to make the decision to travel or not. If you get stuck, you're on your own. The difference is that the driver without the pass may be cited/fined for having traveled on the closed road while the pass driver has prior permission to be out there. So it comes down to your personal evaluation of the driving conditions that you'll encounter. I've had days where the pass was issued and I found the roads to be reasonably passable when driven prudently in my well-equipped Subaru AWD or Ford F-250. But I've also had days with an issued pass where it was prudent to turn back home after having tried to get through for the first couple of miles. The pass doesn't make the roads passable, it only gives you permission to be out there when the roads are posted "closed".

The bottom line is that you're looking at a commute which may be quite expensive in time and fuel along with wear & tear on a vehicle and the driver. As well, you may encounter days where it's simply not feasible. Put this in the perspective that you could be stuck in Saratoga after a day's work and not able to return to Rawlins. A night's lodging in Saratoga, even at the least expensive motels will run the better part of $100, plus your cost of meals … and the cheapest breakfast I've found in town still runs about $10. (I've been stuck more than a few times in Saratoga in the last few years and know the costs firsthand. The cheap motels aren't very nice and places like the Wolf Hotel are pricier without being much nicer. The Saratoga inn is way more expensive but at least the hot springs pools are on-site along with the restaurants)

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by Ltdumbear

Until Starfleet manages to perfect and mass-market an affordable transporter-beam, I'm thinking a horse would be a cheaper alternative, to risking the interstate during winter months.

DITTO - but we prefer mules. They won't eat themselves to death and are sure-footed.

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Get a VW diesel (50- mpg) and brew your own fuel. (appleseed processor, distributor in SLC) But... time,,, Hopefully work (3) 12 hr days
Do you need a house?
How about a room.

Obviously you've never been there.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by OneDawg

Obviously you've never been there.

Not yet this week, but recently (within the last month) and for previous 50+ yrs.

Side note... commute = risk of injury.

A friend and his wife are still suffering from their commute Walden to Saratoga.
Crashed in ~1978, been a very rough recovery. Real expensive also, many surgeries.