I-25 south of Cheyenne could be next hot spot

But interest and infrastructure needed to launch

CHEYENNE — The Interstate 25 corridor south of Cheyenne may be the next hot spot for development in Wyoming’s capital city.

In fact, some would argue, it already is a major development zone. But as Cheyenne solidifies its position as the northern anchor of the Front Range and looks for land for a new business park, the south I-25 corridor could become even hotter.

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Tom Segrave, past chairman of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and newly elected to the Cheyenne City Council, believes it makes sense to look south for new land for business expansions and relocations, especially if Lowe’s Inc., decides to locate a distribution center at the existing Cheyenne Business Parkway.

“If we are successful in landing Lowe’s, then we need to start thinking about a new business park and what it takes to put the infrastructure in and how we pay for it and what part of the city would best benefit from it,” Segrave said. “I would advocate that we look for an area with several thousand acres, and if we don’t purchase it, we at least tie it up,” he added. “I would like to see it with access to the interstates and definitely with access to rail. That’s a real key — we’ve lost a number of companies because we don’t have rail access.”

His preference would be the large undeveloped area south of Cheyenne’s south side, between I-25 and Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s north-south line to Colorado.

“I think we can put it in an area that would help the city grow, and I would prefer the south side, which would encourage investment, both in the park and in residential areas on the south side,” Segrave said. “You’ve got easy access off of I-25 and U.S. 85, you’re closer to a large work force in Colorado, and I just think there’s a number of benefits for going that way.”

Jack Crews, president of Cheyenne LEADS, the city-county economic-development corporation, agrees that looking for additional business park space is important and was discussed at a LEADS board retreat last fall, but he emphasized that LEADS has not made any decisions as yet.

“It’s definitely part of our long-term strategic plan,” Crews said.

LEADS could look at expanding its existing Cheyenne Business Parkway along Interstate 80 about five miles east of I-25, but developing a second site also is an option.

Expanding to the south is “one possibility,” Crews said. “It depends on where we can find the land and get infrastructure in.”

Rail access would be desirable, Crews said, but he noted that he is currently working on a project with Union Pacific Railroad and would be amenable to working with either Union Pacific or Burlington Northern Santa Fe. “We want to keep our options open,” he said.

One of Cheyenne LEADS’ primary focuses has been to convince Northern Front Range businesses that Cheyenne is an attractive site for expansion or relocation.

“We want businesses in Northern Colorado to be aware of the options available here,” Crews said. “There is land available, permitting is available and modest in cost, and we’re only 45 minutes away.”

Driving that 45 minutes from Fort Collins produces little in the way of roadside attractions from Wellington until the Colorado-Wyoming state line, where the Terry Bison Ranch offers food, beverage, lodging, an RV park, a Western village, a fireworks stand, Wyoming’s first winery, summer rodeo and rides through a huge bison herd.

Motorists also are greeted by a gauntlet of giant billboards advertising coming roadside attractions in Cheyenne, just 10 miles north of the border. The billboards dwarf Wyoming’s welcome sign, which proclaims the state is “Like No Place on Earth.”

The only development at the Terry Ranch exit, 2.5 miles into Wyoming, is another patch of fireworks stands. Five miles north, the first Cheyenne exit sports the Flying J Truck Stop, Total, Comfort Inn, McDonald’s and more fireworks stands. It also has the Wyoming Travel and Tourism Division welcome center, Ridge Equipment Truck Repair, Propane Transport Inc. and Reiman Corp. construction offices, shop and yard.

One mile farther north, the junction of interstates 80 and 25 provides one of Cheyenne’s great advantages — a crossroads of two major transcontinental highways.

The east-west I-80, paralleling the original Transcontinental Railroad and the old Lincoln Highway, historically has been very important to Cheyenne, but the growth along the Front Range has made I-25 a hot corridor, too.

And while the I-25/I-80 cloverleaf itself has not been conducive to development, Segrave has hopes for the southwest quadrant, while the West Lincolnway exits just north and west of the interchange are the gateways to current development in west Cheyenne.

North of West Lincolnway, there is some potential for commercial development at the Missile Drive, Central Avenue and Vandehei exits, but for the most part north of West Lincolnway, I-25 is constricted by long-established residential areas, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, parks and government complexes.

Commercial development blossoms at West Lincolnway. At first glance, West Lincolnway is a tourism strip, with two of Cheyenne’s largest hotels, the Hitching Post and Little America, separated by truck stops, restaurants and national chain motels.

Behind those travelers’ amenities lie new ventures, such as Cheyenne’s first Home Depot, almost complete, a stone’s throw from I-25 at Lincolnway, and the new Icon Center, Cheyenne’s new indoor ice rink and events center that opened last fall behind the Hitching Post.

Just east of I-25 lies Westland Road, Cheyenne’s “Auto Plaza” with most of the city’s auto dealers sharing space with more motels and light office and commercial space, accessible from either the West Lincolnway or Missile Drive exits from I-25.

Hidden from West Lincolnway on the south side of the UP tracks is Southwest Drive, which extends south to College Drive between I-25 to the west and BNSF on the east.

There lies the older Harper Valley Industrial Park, dominated by moving and storage warehouses, Coral West’s Distribution Center and a smattering of offices between the BNSF track and I-25. Adjacent are C.H Yarber Construction, P.S. Cook Co.’s plumbing fabrication facility, WSI Water Systems, Inc. and Cheyenne Truck Center.

Just east of the BNSF track is a newer industrial development that includes VAE Nortrak, Puma Steel, American Wyott and Unicover, all slightly more than a mile from the I-25/I-80 interchange.

A few minutes west of the interchange is the existing LEADS industrial park, home of such thriving businesses as Sierra Trading Post, EchoStar, Quark, WENCO, Kabo Manufacturing and Rex’s distribution center.

But to Segrave, the logical place for the next business park will be south, along I-25 between College Drive and Terry Ranch Road, and maybe on both sides of I-25.

“I’d like to see a Cheyenne Tech Center, something like a mini-Denver Tech Center,” Segrave said. “The key is, if we’re really going to do this then we need to lock up enough land that we can work with for the next 25 years, instead of hopscotching all over.

“I really think we need to look at the next sixth penny tax, the specific-purpose tax, as a way of possibly funding the land (purchase) and maybe the first phase of infrastructure, which means we’ve got about two years to get our ducks in a row and try to get some land locked up and make sure this is feasible,” Segrave said.