RAPID CITY - The South Dakota Department of Transportation agreed to make some, but not all, of the changes that downtown Rapid City merchants had sought at Exit 61, the new Southeast Connector.

The Southeast Connector, which opened in October 2005, is a shortcut for westbound Interstate 90 travelers heading to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial or other Southern Hills attractions.

Last fall, some Rapid City merchants complained that the interstate signs were giving westbound tourists the impression that Exit 61 was the only route to Mount Rushmore. Jim Didier, owner of Hotel Alex Johnson, said his walk-in room bookings were down 15 percent.

DOT officials agreed to review their signs, but they said they have an obligation to travelers to show the best routes to their destinations, not lead them to business districts.

"There is a limit to the amount of message content on a sign, and on the number of signs at an interchange," said Dan Staton, DOT traffic engineer. "It's not uncommon that there will be more points of interest than we can put on a sign."

"The purpose of the signs is to show the majority of unfamiliar travelers the best ways to their destinations, not to direct traffic to certain areas over another," said Todd Seaman, DOT region engineer. "We realize this solution will not please everyone, but we feel the resulting plan will provide visitors with the information to choose the right routes for their interests, recognizing that many folks are headed well beyond the immediate Rapid City area."

Alex Johnson's Didier said he was happy overall with the changes.

"I'm pleased we were able to get some of the changes we wanted - it's not a perfect world, but I'm pleased," he said.

Didier said the downtown business community is taking steps to create an identity as a tourist destination in its own right.

Much of their efforts will be built around the bronze statues of the American presidents, called the City of Presidents project.

When those things come about, Didier said he hopes the DOT signs will help identify the downtown attraction.

Interstate sign changes the DOT will make in the next few weeks

* The word "Downtown" will be added to all signs that mention Exit 57. This will clarify that Exit 57 serves the downtown area as well as being one of two paths to Mount Rushmore.

* Two signs will indicate both Exits 61 ("via Truck") and 57 ("via Downtown") as routes to Mount Rushmore. One sign will be new, the other modified.

* The sign directing travelers to Custer State Park will be moved from Exit 57 to Exit 61. To make room for that change, Exit 61 will no longer be signed as the route to the Highway Patrol office.

* A sign at Exit 60 will direct travelers to Central States Fairgrounds. In the past, there has been no sign on I-90 for the fairgrounds.

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