South Dakota DOT Utilizes Unique Delivery Method to Speed Up South Veterans Parkway Project - Western Builder 10/11/2024

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, lies in the southeast part of the state near the border of Minnesota and Iowa. With a population of over 200,000 and another 100,000 people in the surrounding counties, it is the fastest-growing metro area in the Midwest (among areas of 50,000 or more). As the population grows, so does the need to expand and improve infrastructure, like the South Veterans Parkway. An ongoing project on the parkway is a partnership between the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) and the City of Sioux Falls, with John Riley Construction as the general contractor.

In the early 1990s, the City of Sioux Falls worked with the Sioux Falls Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which is responsible for developing and maintaining key documents for the transportation planning process. They conducted a study to determine the transportation needs of the Sioux Falls Metropolitan area.

The study identified a need for a network of high-speed arterial corridors to traverse around Sioux Falls to improve traffic flow, serve the Sioux Falls growth areas, and minimize congestion. Hence, the South Veterans Parkway, which will connect Interstate 29 to Interstate 90 through the remaining 8.7 miles of Veterans Parkway.

The City of Sioux Falls worked with SDDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to complete an Environmental Assessment to establish a 200-foot-wide corridor. By agreement, after the corridor is constructed by SDDOT, the corridor jurisdiction will be transferred to the City of Sioux Falls, which will maintain the corridor.

The project at hand is a 2-mile portion of the entire 17-mile Veterans Parkway. The other half of the parkway is known as North Veterans Parkway, and the whole route is Veterans Parkway. The project is the first of four segments. The others are in final design and right of way acquisition. They are scheduled to be built over the next four years.

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