South Dakota Department of Transportation
Higher taxes and fees fix hundreds of bridges, but some local governments don’t participate
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 […]
Risky rescues have state pondering approach to drivers who ignore road closures
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). […]
Spring 2022 derecho cost $2.8 billion, NOAA says. Some damage won’t be fixed until 2024.
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 […]