The long wait is nearly over as the two-year expedition to add lanes between 41st Street and the Tea Exit on I-29 will be complete soon.

Sioux Falls has seen rapid population growth and adding extra lanes of traffic on this major north-south route has kept up with infrastructure needs. Travis Dressen of the South Dakota Department of Transportation says the new surface will be ready going north in short order.

“The bridge deck is on the northbound set of lanes and most of the paving is done on that side. The corridor is looking almost complete. They’re looking to switch traffic either late this week or early next week.”

Even though the lanes will be open, Dressen admits some intermittent touch-up work will be needed before the snow flies.

“There will still be some work happening off the roadway. They will pull up some of the topsoil to get the erosion control measures in place. Also they are still getting some of the tower lighting lit up at the interchange but some of the lighting at the south end of the project is complete. Just working on some of the final cleanup items for the year because we getting ready to head towards winter.”

According to Dressen that timetable for completion will be slightly ahead of normal due to favorable weather conditions during most of the summer.

Next year Dressen says there will be some additional work done on the north and southbound overpass bridges at the Tea Exit to fix the bumps going onto and coming off the span.


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