The population of the Black Hills is growing, but the infrastructure needs to keep pace to avoid bad traffic or dangerous intersections. The state Department of Transportation visited the Black Hills Energy offices to speak to residents about developments to come.
A section of US Highway 16 between Rapid City and Rockerville is expected to tally nearly 25,000 cars per day in the next 25 years, and the state DOT wants locals to be in the know on what’s coming.
DOT planning squad leader Steve Gramm said this particular section of highway was noted in their last study.
“We completed the US 16 corridor study in 2021, and now that projects out of that study are moving forward into design, we realized this sub-area needs more decisions made before we go into design and that’s what this sub-area study is to cover,” Gramm said.
Gramm said they’ve found trouble spots in the area.
“It’s got areas that have had some higher-than-normal left-turn crashes," Gramm said. "People pulling out into the highway that’s 65 miles an hour in a lot of this area, people try and make a left turn across all that and can’t. That’s the problem we’re trying to help alleviate.”
He said it’s hard to know exactly what kind of developments will be in demand come the next decade.
“We have run some traffic forecasts based upon what we know about oncoming development – not just in Rapid City but further south in the hills to make sure we have the capacity for what we forecast to be extra cars. For throughput we have capacity, but we have to separate throughput from turning cars to keep that capacity.”
The DOT is accepting public comment on the study for two weeks to come. More information can be found and comments can be made on the DOT's website.