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[X99]

Long time no update, unlike Street View on the completed eastern portion of Omaha Street east of Canal, which updated earlier this month. The Street View updates may be unfinished though, since the imagery on the westbound lanes cuts off at the Black Hills Bicycles parking lot (the same place as the eastbound lanes) despite there being no direct connection due to the new median. Construction continues on the western portion of the project, with the biggest visible construction bottleneck being the bridge over Rapid Creek.

In fact, bridges seem to be bottlenecks in both major projects, as almost all of the auxiliary pavement between Exits 58 and 59 has been completed except for, of course, the bridges over Maple Avenue. The westbound ramps have been moved to their new configuration, with the eastbound ramps under construction. Since both on ramps at the current time have no acceleration lanes, the speed limit on I-90 between mile markers 58 and 60 has been reduced from 65 mph to 55 mph, assumed to run through November 20th.

Moving back to Omaha, aside from the bridge, the Deadwood Avenue and Mountain View Road intersections are under construction as well, with traffic shifts on all three roads to finish one side at a time and temporary traffic lights at both intersections. From the pavement markings visible, I can't tell if the left turn lane on Deadwood at Krebs has been included into a later step of the current project or simply forgotten.

In the Shepherd Hills development, continuation of Anamosa Street east of Philadelphia Street seems to have stalled while the first section of housing is built northeast of the intersection between those two roads. It will be an interesting change to have the eastbound East North Street skyline dominated by five story apartment buildings instead of rolling hills.

In terms of updates outside of the forum, the Omaha Street Reconstruction Facebook page receives updates somewhat often, while the Lacrosse DDI receives almost no updates on its Facebook page and somewhat less frequent updates (compared to Omaha Facebook) on its dedicated site.

I will be driving through Box Elder later today to give an update on the construction in that area.

[X99]

I'm glad I drove through Box Elder, since it seems they did a lot more than I expected.

First off, the previously mentioned extension of Briggs Street is now open, and the first building foundations for the Liberty Park complex are taking shape. The Liberty Boulevard and Tower Road stoplight seems to have had new vehicle sensors installed. Further southwest, the Radar Hill Road and Highway 1416 intersection- 13 years in planning- has finally been improved, with two stop signs, some rumble strips, and literally nothing else. 

As I was driving over there, I also noticed another project I forgot to update on- the Mall Drive extension is fully completed, running from Elk Vale Road to an extended Seger Drive, which itself extends to a weird three way intersection with Bennett Road and the service road to the east. Between that intersection and Elk Vale, the service road has been completely removed. I didn't check if Seger Drive was also finished through to Elk Vale, but chances are it was completed around the same time as Mall.

Somewhat unrelated to roads but still related to cars, the Chevrolet dealership had their show lot emptied for the installation of hail shields over all of the spots in the lot as I drove past, being the third dealership to do so after the Honda and Ford dealerships. I guess they've had enough hail damage sales to warrant those at this point.

[Plutonic Panda]

I wonder if Rapid City will see a growth spurt similar to Boise. It’s in a pretty cool area and I love the Black Hills. I’ve been three times but yet to visit Rapid City.

[rte66man]

Somewhat unrelated to roads but still related to cars, the Chevrolet dealership had their show lot emptied for the installation of hail shields over all of the spots in the lot as I drove past, being the third dealership to do so after the Honda and Ford dealerships. I guess they've had enough hail damage sales to warrant those at this point.

Those things are complicated. When we were shopping for a car last year, I noticed all the dealers with them had issues with birds roosting on the inner struts and crapping all over the cars underneath. I realize cleaning the bird crap is cheaper but it sure makes it hard to sell a car if you have to wash it multiple times per day.

[SD Mapman]

Somewhat unrelated to roads but still related to cars, the Chevrolet dealership had their show lot emptied for the installation of hail shields over all of the spots in the lot as I drove past, being the third dealership to do so after the Honda and Ford dealerships. I guess they've had enough hail damage sales to warrant those at this point.

Those things are complicated. When we were shopping for a car last year, I noticed all the dealers with them had issues with birds roosting on the inner struts and crapping all over the cars underneath. I realize cleaning the bird crap is cheaper but it sure makes it hard to sell a car if you have to wash it multiple times per day.

Hail damage cost probably justifies it; there's plenty of other places for birds to nest in Rapid that aren't in giant parking lots.

being the third dealership to do so after the Honda and Ford dealerships.

Surprised Toyota hasn't done it yet, since Denny Menholt owns that one too (for non-locals he owns the Chevy and Honda dealerships).

I wonder if Rapid City will see a growth spurt similar to Boise. It’s in a pretty cool area and I love the Black Hills. I’ve been three times but yet to visit Rapid City.

Please no we don't deserve that punishment.

[SoDakInterstateEnthusiast]

I'm a little disappointed - I got out to the hills recently (August) but didn't get to go past Lacrosse St on I-90. I really wanted to see how that was shaping up.

[X99]

The Maple Avenue I-90 westbound bridge is finished and ready to open to traffic, while the eastbound bridge seems to not even be paved. I'll try to get over the top of the bridge and out to Omaha on Thursday to check on the progress there.

[SD Mapman]

As per the Journal (light paywall, open in Private/Incognito to get around it), I-90 should be complete enough to resume normal traffic patterns by Thanksgiving. It's been an abnormally nice fall in the Hills (apart from that one snowstorm in early October) so I bet the contractor's taking advantage of all the good weather they can.

[brad2971]

I wonder if Rapid City will see a growth spurt similar to Boise. It’s in a pretty cool area and I love the Black Hills. I’ve been three times but yet to visit Rapid City.

Rapid City and the Black Hills region have a significant disadvantage compared to, say, Bend, Grand Junction, or St. George: The property tax levies are more than double what a lot of the intermountain West pays. To put the comparison in stark terms: Black Hills residents pay a higher tax bill on a $300K home than Colorado residents pay on a $600K home.

So with that, the growth the Black Hills will see is somewhat limited to the folks moving in from the rest of the Midwest, wihch is used to paying property taxes at Black Hills rates.  Think Sioux Falls, Omaha, and MSP residents buying vacation properties.

[X99]

As per the Journal (light paywall, open in Private/Incognito to get around it), I-90 should be complete enough to resume normal traffic patterns by Thanksgiving. It's been an abnormally nice fall in the Hills (apart from that one snowstorm in early October) so I bet the contractor's taking advantage of all the good weather they can.

Does this mean both auxiliary lanes across Maple Avenue plus the currently closed Haines ramp will be open? Hopefully by then people realize how auxiliary lanes work- the westbound auxiliary lane has been open for all of two weeks and I've already been passed by someone treating it like a full lane.

[SD Mapman]

As per the Journal (light paywall, open in Private/Incognito to get around it), I-90 should be complete enough to resume normal traffic patterns by Thanksgiving. It's been an abnormally nice fall in the Hills (apart from that one snowstorm in early October) so I bet the contractor's taking advantage of all the good weather they can.

Does this mean both auxiliary lanes across Maple Avenue plus the currently closed Haines ramp will be open? Hopefully by then people realize how auxiliary lanes work- the westbound auxiliary lane has been open for all of two weeks and I've already been passed by someone treating it like a full lane.

Haven't been down to Rapid in a while, so I can only assume that all lanes will open. As for treating the auxiliary lane as a full lane, I've had that happen to me between Exits 57 & 58 eastbound multiple times...

[X99]

The good weather ended this morning with snow, but as of posting this none of it is on the ground yet and I still saw construction equipment moving around in Shepherd Hills, assuming the other projects are also still going as long as they can.

Box Elder's Liberty Plaza is progressing at a surprisingly fast rate, with most of the major roads already in place and the main structure started for the convention center. It seems the road aligned with Briggs Street south of Liberty Boulevard will actually be Main Street, a road name Box Elder previously hasn't actually used. I wonder if they'll rename Briggs to the north as well once the area opens to the public.

On Lacrosse Street, foundations were poured for two new bridge support columns on the east side of the existing bridge's four. Plans indicate a widening of the bridge as part of the project slated for next year. The eastbound Maple Avenue bridge was in the concrete form when I drove past it last Thursday, so I'm assuming at this point it's finished and either waiting on the approaches or going through final connections to the main roadway.

Omaha Street traffic is now on the north side of the newly widened Rapid Creek bridge, with the south side being rebuilt. This traffic change stays through the Deadwood Avenue intersection before returning to all lanes.

Unrelated to roads, but if I remember the land ownership right, our first Chick-Fil-A is under construction as well.

[SD Mapman]

Unrelated to roads, but if I remember the land ownership right, our first Chick-Fil-A is under construction as well.

Wait what

My dad wanted to get one going in Spearfish but I guess he waited too long.

Box Elder's Liberty Plaza is progressing at a surprisingly fast rate, with most of the major roads already in place and the main structure started for the convention center. It seems the road aligned with Briggs Street south of Liberty Boulevard will actually be Main Street, a road name Box Elder previously hasn't actually used. I wonder if they'll rename Briggs to the north as well once the area opens to the public.

I doubt they'd rename Briggs; all the businesses/homes would have to update their addresses and that just seems like too much hassle.

[X99]

Both Maple Avenue bridges are now completed and open on all six lanes, and the eastbound Haines Avenue on ramp has been reopened.

[X99]

Most construction on the DDI stopped for the winter, but that project is scheduled to resume on February 28th.

In the meantime, Omaha construction has barely slowed down- traffic is currently still in the westbound lanes, but the eastbound side is nearing completion east of Mountain View, with traffic turning left from that road onto Omaha using the new turn ramp and part of the eastbound lanes as a long detour ramp that merges back with regular eastbound traffic coming back to the eastbound lanes just before Cross Street.

I can already tell while editing that this description might be a little confusing, so I drew some lines on a map to clarify what I mean. Orange is eastbound traffic on Omaha, black is traffic turning right onto Omaha from Mountain View.


The bike path under the Rapid Creek bridge, originally planned to reopen in October 2021, is still closed and is expected to remain closed through mid April.

[SD Mapman]

The bike path under the Rapid Creek bridge, originally planned to reopen in October 2021, is still closed and is expected to remain closed through mid April.

Is that the SD 231/W. Omaha bridge by Blood Services (or Vitalant or whatever it is now)?

[X99]

Lacrosse Street construction is back underway again, with the east side of the bridge being torn apart to add two more lanes to the outside. I-90 is closed nightly from 9pm to 5am, with all traffic forced onto the ramps so the crews can work without risking dropping something on a passing car.

The bike path under the Rapid Creek bridge, originally planned to reopen in October 2021, is still closed and is expected to remain closed through mid April.

Is that the SD 231/W. Omaha bridge by Blood Services (or Vitalant or whatever it is now)?

That's the one.

[SD Mapman]

Lacrosse Street construction is back underway again, with the east side of the bridge being torn apart to add two more lanes to the outside. I-90 is closed nightly from 9pm to 5am, with all traffic forced onto the ramps so the crews can work without risking dropping something on a passing car.

The bike path under the Rapid Creek bridge, originally planned to reopen in October 2021, is still closed and is expected to remain closed through mid April.

Is that the SD 231/W. Omaha bridge by Blood Services (or Vitalant or whatever it is now)?

That's the one.

Good to know, I'll avoid that way if I have to go for a run from there this spring.

[X99]

St Patrick Street between Omaha (SD 44) and Valley Drive is closed for construction of a box culvert under St Patrick near 44. Centre Street across Rapid Creek is also closed, and it seems like they're redoing something on that bridge again, which is a little odd given how short of a time it's been since it was last closed for that.

[SD Mapman]

St Patrick Street between Omaha (SD 44) and Valley Drive is closed for construction of a box culvert under St Patrick near 44. Centre Street across Rapid Creek is also closed, and it seems like they're redoing something on that bridge again, which is a little odd given how short of a time it's been since it was last closed for that.

Given the quality of the Rapid City street network (driving Kansas City by Mines will definitely mix your Culver's milkshake), I'm not surprised they have to do touch-up work on an already completed project.

[X99]

It seems I-90 is no longer doing nightly closures for the time being. The bridge partial demolition seems to be finished, and when I drove under it last night it was open all the way through. However, the temporary stoplights are on flashing red and have been for a week straight, which seems a little odd since those intersections are usually heavily traveled.

[SD Mapman]

Probably too lazy to change it until someone complains.

[X99]

As of now, the only thing keeping Lacrosse bridge construction is the weather- as soon as it warms up, they're planning to bring out the cranes to start putting it all together.

On Omaha, the Rapid Creek bridge expansion is nearing completion, which should bring traffic to at least two lanes each way all the way through the construction zone while work on the median is finished. If everything went to plan last week, the bike path should have reopened three days ago, but I haven't been out there to check since the opening date.

St Patrick Street is still closed, but only at the end. The closure is from SD 44 to Valley Drive, with most traffic taking Valley or Sedivy to get back to 44.

The Cambell Street bridge over the end of St Joseph Street is down to one lane each way as the bridge prepares for deck improvement work.

[SD Mapman]

St Patrick Street is still closed, but only at the end. The closure is from SD 44 to Valley Drive, with most traffic taking Valley or Sedivy to get back to 44.

That just for city utility work?

[X99]

St Patrick Street is still closed, but only at the end. The closure is from SD 44 to Valley Drive, with most traffic taking Valley or Sedivy to get back to 44.

That just for city utility work?

Something about building a box culvert if I read the notice right. Seems a little odd that it's taking this long though, and I'm sure today's snowstorm isn't helping.