Studies continue for arterial road between Brandon, Sioux Falls

Last month the Metropolitan Planning Organization that includes the communities of Sioux Falls, Brandon, Harrisburg, Hartford and Crooks, held its second of three open houses regarding the pending construction planned for the Holly Boulevard / Rice Street corridor connecting Brandon to Sioux Falls.

The corridor is in Sioux Falls city limits (Rice Street) as far west as Veterans Parkway. The road is county owned before reaching Brandon city limits (Holly Boulevard).

“On the city’s side of it, that portion of road is tired,” said Sioux Falls engineer Shannon Ausen. “It’s a busy corridor.”

The last open house was held on Dec. 5 at Great Bear Ski Lodge between Sioux Falls and Brandon. It was a chance for stakeholders such as Excel Energy, Ellis and Eastern Railroad, property developers, and the general public to see concept plans on what the corridor could look like in the future. And one thing is certain, like them or not, roundabouts are coming to the stretch between Brandon and Sioux Falls.

Brandon city engineer Tami Jansma said current concept plans call for as many as five roundabouts on the road.

“Roundabouts are something we can put in initially,” she said. “It’s a safe alternative to putting up a big traffic signal.”

Safety, and cost, is driving the roundabouts. Jansma said traffic signals are expensive, as is building out a traffic light intersection along with maintenance.

But mostly, it’s the safest alternative.

“Yes. 100 percent,” Jansma said when asked if she thought it’s inevitable that roundabouts will dot the corridor in the future. “I think roundabouts make the most sense on that road.”

But roundabouts take some getting used to. Sioux Falls has four of them, and Brandon is about to get its first on the corner of Splitrock Boulevard and Aspen Boulevard.

“I think it’s a good thing that some people are concerned about roundabouts because they do make you feel almost uneasy when you’re going through it,” Jansma said. “But that’s not a bad feeling when you’re in an intersection because you’re going to slow down and if there is an accident, you’re going to be going at a slow speed and it’s more of a side swipe type of accident. Whereas in an intersection, if you run a red light, you’re most likely going to have a T-bone accident, and that’s much worse. It prevents a lot of rear end accidents, too. People are coming up to it, they see it, they’re slowing down, they’re paying attention.”

Ausen said Sioux Falls has had good luck with the four that are currently in the city.

“They really can move a lot of traffic,” she said. “They help move traffic instead of just stopping at a traffic signal.”

A timeline on the new-look Holly / Rice corridor hasn’t been established and Jansma said she expects the construction to not be one big project, but rather “baby steps” to get to the final concept.

For as much as Sioux Falls has grown to the east and Brandon to the west, Ausen said the numbers have stabilized over the last five years. The area from Interstate 229 to Bahnson Avenue handles around 10,000 vehicles per day. From Bahnson to Six Mile Road is around 9,000.

“It’s been pretty consistent growth, but it’s getting to the point where something needs to be done,” Ausen said. “Bicycles also want to use the corridor to hook up to the paths that are adjacent to Veterans Parkway. And there’s always a lot of train activity that causes havoc for morning and evening commuters.”

At the third and final public input meeting scheduled for after February, Brandon, Sioux Falls and Minnehaha County representatives will roll out their top considerations on what the corridor should look like.

“But there’s still no construction schedule,” Jansma said.