South Dakota Department of Transportation

The South Dakota Department of Transportation works on the Pfc. Frederick Farlee Memorial Bridge on U.S. Highway 212, 1 mile west of Lantry, on June 2, 2023. The bridge is state-owned, though it is located in Dewey County. (Photo courtesy of Steven Jacobs, SDDOT)

Higher taxes and fees fix hundreds of bridges, but some local governments don’t participate

BY: - August 18, 2023

In 2015, nearly 25% of locally owned bridges in South Dakota were in poor condition. Eight years later, more than $142 million in taxpayer funding has been spent on 500 local bridge improvement grants through a state program. As of 2022, the number of locally owned bridges in poor condition had decreased by 46 while […]

Crews push their way through a massive snowdrift plugging an overpass on Interstate 90 near Kadoka. (Courtesy of State of South Dakota Highway Crew)

Risky rescues have state pondering approach to drivers who ignore road closures

BY: - January 25, 2023

PIERRE – Hundreds of motorists drove around Interstate blockades or ventured onto snowed-over highways during a two-week storm event late last year, diverting the energies of emergency responders to rescues that sometimes put those responders at risk.  That’s not uncommon during winter storms, according to Sec. Craig Price of the Department of Public Safety (DPS). […]

South Dakota Department of Transportation workers remove an Interstate 90 sign near Salem that was warped and damaged by the May 2022 derecho.

Spring 2022 derecho cost $2.8 billion, NOAA says. Some damage won’t be fixed until 2024.

BY: - January 17, 2023

Crews are still working to clean up damage months after the May 2022 derecho, which swept a roughly 100-mile-wide wall of dust and winds over 100 mph across South Dakota. The derecho damage has a multi-state price tag of $2.8 billion, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information’s newly updated list of billion-dollar disaster […]