A contractor for the South Dakota Department of Transportation, has started setting bridge girders over I-229 between I-29 and Louise Avenue. This work started Wednesday night at 8:00pm. The contractor is closing the northbound lanes of I-229 between I-29 and Louise Avenue between the hours of 8:00p.m. and 6:00a.m. These closures will continue until all bridge girders have been set over the northbound lanes. That work is expected to be done by Monday morning at 6:00am. This work is being done in conjunction with the I-229 Solberg-Tallgrass overpass project. The overall completion date for the $6.25 million project is August 17th.
We spoke with Travis Dressen with the South Dakota Department of Transportation. He told us the work is anticipated to take 4 straight nights so work over the northbound lanes is expected to be complete by Saturday night. However, if weather or something else slows crews down a bit the work could continue into early next week. Dressen says you should expect these closures to be in place over the weekend, during the specified times.
Dressen says crews are working over the interstate west of the Louise interchange. The drivers affected by this work will be those coming from Northbound I-29 and Southbound I-29 and using the interchange ramps to get to Northbound I-229. This will be the side that is closed. The southbound lanes of I-229 will be unaffected. For those wishing to use Northbound I-229 coming from I-29, the detour is as follows:
From Southbound I-29: Use Exit 77 (41st St. Exit) then travel east to Louise Avenue, then south to I-229. Drivers will be able to access both Northbound and Southbound I-229 from the Louise Ave./I-229 interchange.
From Northbound I-29, use Exit 73 (Tea interchange) then travel east to Louise Avenue, then north to I-229.
The work being done is setting the bridge girders over the Northbound lanes of I-229 for the new Solberg/Tallgrass overpass structure. The project is a joint project between the City of Sioux Falls and the SD Department of Transportation. The Department is administering the overall project and the Department's portion of the project essentially consists of the retaining wall on the north side and the overpass itself which is within the right-of-way corridor of I-229. The City's portion of the project includes the grading to build the roadbed, the drainage structures, surfacing, the roadway lighting, signing and striping. They also installed a new water main under I-229 as part of their Capital Improvement Plan. The overall cost of the project is approximately $6.3 Million.
Dressen says the purpose of the project is to provide additional north/south connectivity from 57th St. to 69th St. Louise Avenue operates at a lower level of service on the north side of the I-229 interchange due to congestion, particularly during the evening peak hours. This project will relieve congestion on Louise and 57th St. now and in the future as development on the south side continues and traffic volumes are expected to increase. The overall project completion date is August 17, 2013 and the contractor anticipates meeting the completion date.
