GOING IT ALONE: Sioux Falls readies to foot $25.5M intersection overhaul without federal help
City Hall: Bolstering Arrowhead Parkway and Veterans Parkway with 10-lane intersection can't wait any longer
Tens of millions of dollars worth of construction on the city of Sioux Falls’ 2025 to-do list hangs in the balance as the federal government decides whether or not to help with the largest job on next year’s calendar.
The long-anticipated rebuild of the intersection at Arrowhead Parkway and Veterans Parkway will be the culmination of nearly two decades of work on the two major eastern Sioux Falls thoroughfares. And with the intersection on pace to become the state’s busiest — traffic levels there could soon exceed 41st Street and Louise Avenue — and the U.S. Department of Transportation already having declined past grant applications for the intersection, the city is preparing to foot the $25.5 million bill on its own.
“The way we’ve budgeted in the capital plan — whether we’re successful with a grant … for full funding, partial or no (federal aid) — we’ve got a funding approach to make sure we can meet this project objective,” Public Works Director Mark Cotter said this week of the Arrowhead Parkway-Veterans Parkway intersection project that’ll feature dual left-turn lanes at all four quadrants, underground pedestrian underpasses, and a quarter-mile of transition along Arrowhead Parkway to the east.
On City Hall’s road improvement plan for years, the project has been top of mind for city planners, but couldn’t be completed until after improvements to the surrounding road network — including Six Mile Road and Arrowhead Parkway. But after another round of U.S. Department of Transportation grant funding ended last year without an award for the intersection overhaul, Cotter said the city began looking at how to absorb the high price tag while maintaining optimism that a pair of new grant applications submitted for the project this year might finally get federal approval. Specifically, City Hall has marked more than $12 million in sales tax funds and sewer fees.
“We started to bank funds this year in case we’re not awarded a federal grant,” Cotter said.
The rest of the project costs could be covered by bumping some other road and infrastructure projects back on the calendar as well, should federal assistance not materialize. If it does, the planned reconstruction of Minnesota Avenue between Second and Seventh Streets, for instance, would then likely be able to occur next year, he said.
Sioux Falls Finance Director Shawn Pritchett told The Dakota Scout this week that it’s possible an upcoming pool bonding proposal coming from the mayor’s office could also be crafted to help absorb the cost of the Veterans Parkway-Arrowhead Parkway project if councilors choose not to use those funds to cover the $9 million purchase agreement for a westside wellness center the city entered into this summer with Sanford Health.
Capital fund reserves could also be used should councilors and City Hall wish to expedite a project that would otherwise have to wait, he said.
“There’s always that possibility,” he said.
The Veterans Parkway-Arrowhead Parkway intersection rebuild is anticipated to be bid in January, with construction beginning on what’s expected to be a two-year project in March or April. Beyond the 10 lanes planned there, design specs also include lowering the intersection three to five feet and relocation of detention ponds.
