DOT to explain highway extension near Sturgis

By Dan Daly, Journal Staff Writer | Monday, March 13, 2006

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STURGIS — The South Dakota Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting in Sturgis to talk about its plan to extend S.D. Highway 79 south to Interstate 90, routing traffic around the east side of Sturgis.

The meeting will run from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 16, at the Meade County Courthouse Community Room.

It is the first of three meetings the DOT will hold as it forms an environmental assessment to determine the preferred alternative for the road extension.

The new road will start where Highway 79 intersects with S.D. Highway 34 east of the Fort Meade campus of Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System. It will pass east of Fort Meade and connect with I-90 south of Sturgis. It will connect either near the Black Hills National Cemetery, Exit 34, or at Pleasant Valley Road, Exit 37.

The DOT expects to complete the environmental assessment before the beginning of 2007. It will be several years, however, before construction would begin. DOT officials have said the project can’t begin before 2011.

The annual Sturgis motorcycle rally is one of the big reasons the South Dakota Department of Transportation wants to build the bypass. Typically, the rally becomes a larger event every year. The main routes through Sturgis, Junction Avenue (Highway 79) and Lazelle Street (Highway 34) become snarled with pedestrians and motorcycles.

However, residents of eastern Meade County have said the bypass would have a year-round benefit. They would have an easier time hauling cattle, hay and supplies by way of I-90 the rest of the year.

In the past, the Highway 79 extension proposal has received a cool reception from some Sturgis officials. At a meeting last year, Mayor Mark Zeigler said he worried that Sturgis’ fragile year-round business environment could be threatened. He has suggested that the bypass skirt the southern edge of Sturgis and connect with I-90 at Exit 32, which is the Junction Avenue exit.

DOT officials have rejected the Exit 32 plan, saying it would not work for truck traffic.

Meanwhile, the Bear Butte International Alliance, an advocacy group for American Indian issues, has opposed the Exit 34 route.

The group has said that this route could desecrate significant sites near the Alkali Creek Nature Trail and Campground. It is believed the area contains the remains of the White River Band of Ute who were incarcerated in a detainment camp set up at Alkali Creek in 1906-07.

The highway project could cost as much as $10 million, officials have said.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com