City of Sioux Falls to begin work on another major road construction project

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Another major road construction project is set to begin this week in Sioux Falls.

Wednesday, crews will start work on Cliff Avenue, between 49th Street and 56th Street.

The project will add a second southbound lane to match the two lanes heading north that already exist.

Sioux Falls Principal Engineer Tony Ondricek says the project is going to reduce the bottleneck created at Tomar Road.

“Once this is done it’ll really increase the flow capacity through this section,” Ondricek said.

To do it, crews will build up the west bank of Cliff Avenue.

“It’ll have a big impact, especially when school is getting out in the afternoons, and then as people are leaving work and going home,” Project Engineer Ross Kuchta said. Kuchta is with Stockwell Engineers, Inc., which is overseeing the project. “It seems like those evening hours are typically when it sees the most (traffic) going southbound, and that additional lane of traffic will really help that area out.”

Dakota News Now spoke to a few people who live in the neighborhood. While they didn’t want to go on the record, they say the project is overdue.

“At the time it was built there wasn’t a lot of construction out in this area, and as you can see, Sioux Falls continues to grow out in this area, and it just really drives the need to increase the capacity of this section,” Ondricek said when asked why the road was originally built with a single southbound lane.

When it’s all done, there will be four lanes, two in each direction, as well additional turning lanes in some spots. There will also be a new walking path on the east side of the street. In addition, Kuchta says there will be new lights on the west side of the road, and the water main and storm drains will be replaced.

The $3.8 million project is part of the city’s larger effort to keep up with the rapid growth Sioux Falls is seeing.

“All these improvements are necessary to feed this growth, and the city will continue to try to meet those needs,” Ondricek said.

Beginning Wednesday, the section under construction will be reduced to one lane each way. Once school is out for the summer in Sioux Falls, the entire section will close and won’t reopen until school starts again in the fall. The expected completion date is set for November.

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