Contracts totaling nearly $32 million for nine highway projects around the state were awarded by the Wyoming Transportation Commission at its November meeting in Cheyenne.

The largest contracts went to Cheyenne's Knife River, which submitted the low bid of $11.7 million for reconstruction and widening of 10 miles of Wyoming 210, also known as the Happy Jack Road, between Cheyenne and Laramie. The highway will be widened to include 8-foot safety shoulders and turn lanes

Nearly nine miles of the westbound lanes of I-80 from 1.6 miles east of the Albany-Carbon County line to one mile east of the Quealy Dome Interchange will get a pavement overlay under a $6.9 million contract awarded to Northern Improvement Co. of Fargo, N.D. The project also includes rehabilitation work on three bridges.

Nearly five miles of Middle Baxter Road between Airport Road and Wyoming 430 in Sweetwater County will be rebuilt and widened under a $5.2 million contract awarded to Bemas Construction of Englewood, Colo.

Chip sealing, bridge deck sealing and other work on an 11.8-mile section of U.S. 191 between Pinedale and Hoback Junction will be completed under a $3.1 million contract awarded to H-K Contractors and Evans Construction of Idaho Falls.

H-K and Evans also won a $1.7 million contract for patching on highway sections in Lincoln, Sweetwater and Teton counties.

Wyoming 290 beginning in Meeteetse and extending six miles to the west will get a pavement overlay under a $1.9 million contract awarded to Century Companies of Lewistown, Mont.

Crack sealing and other work on 113 miles of highways in Converse, Goshen, Johnson and Natrona counties will be completed under a $990,000 contract awarded to Superior Asphalt of Magna, Utah.

Worland's Hout Fencing won a $416,000 contract to add a turn lane and additional lighting to the intersection of U.S. 191 and Yellowstone Road in north Rock Springs.