10 rural intersections flagged for safety study

Minnehaha County plans to study 10 rural intersections that are becoming more dangerous and congested.

County commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved $41,851 to study traffic volumes and crash history at the intersections.

“Some of these intersections have some safety concerns,” Highway Superintendent DJ Buthe told the commission.

Buthe said improving the intersections could involve adding lanes, better signage or traffic signals.

The intersections the Highway Department will study are:

• Highway 114 and Highway 149 south of Colton
• Highway 130 and 471st Avenue northwest of Foundation Park in Sioux Falls
• Highway 139 and Highway 140 (Maple Street) northwest of Sioux Falls
• Highway 140 and Highway 151 west of Sioux Falls
• Highway 148 and South Dakota Highway 17 west of Sioux Falls
• Highway 130 and Highway 137 south of Crooks
• Highway 140 and Highway 119 (Six Mile Road) northeast of Sioux Falls
• Maple Street and Highway 119 (Six Mile Road) east of Sioux Falls
• Madison Street and Highway 119 (Six Mile road)
• Highway 138 and Highway 109 east Brandon

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Shannon Schultz, assistant highway superintendent, said the county's 2040 Long-Range Transportation Plan identified some alarming predictions for these intersections. Schultz said the county highway department needs to know how bad the intersections are and how bad they will be.

“We need to know what needs to be done, and about when would be the right time to do it,” he said.

The county department is expected to know the results of the study by March 2017.