March 6, 2023

The long-awaited continued build-out of Veterans Parkway is about to begin.

This construction season will bring the first 2 miles of roadwork from Cliff to Western avenues, marking the start of an 8.5-mile expansion that is designed to improve traffic flow while also likely driving considerable development.

“It’s an exciting project,” said Travis Dressen, region engineer for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. “It’s been building. On Highway 11, we’ve seen great improvements during the last couple years making that connection on the north end of I-90, so we really started to see a lot of use along the corridor.”

Picture the scale of road that already has been built from I-90 to 57th Street, and you start to have an idea how 8 more miles could further development along wide swaths of south Sioux Falls. The animation below shows how the road itself will flow from Interstate 29 and eventually connect at 57th Street.

The project is broken into segments of approximately 2 miles, with each taking 18 months to two years to complete. This year’s work will be from Cliff to Western, and the following will start in upcoming years:

• 2024: Western to I-29.
• 2025: Cliff to Sycamore avenues.
• 2026: Sycamore to 57th.

The state’s total project cost, which doesn’t include the city’s share helping build out roads near major intersection or utilities, is estimated at more than $200 million.

“It represents a huge investment, but the amount of benefit for the overall region is well worth it,” Dressen said. “It’s going to serve Sioux Falls for a long, long time.”

This year brought some key milestones allowing work to move forward, including a finding of no significant environmental impact and approval from the Army Corps of Engineers. The plan is to bid the first 2 miles in the coming weeks.

“It’s terrific news,” said Mark Cotter, the city’s director of public works. “We will have another public meeting once the low bidder has been determined for the segment to be constructed this year to talk construction-related items. Appraisals for the remaining three projects are all underway, and (right-of-way) negotiations are as well.”

The corridor will include multiple pedestrian underpasses and a 10-foot shared-use path.

“You drive through and what were fields four years ago, you now see dirt being moved,” Dressen said.

That will only continue. One of the first developments poised to take off with the latest construction is on the southeast side of 85th Street and Minnesota Avenue and along the future Veterans Parkway, which will include an overpass at 85th.

“We’ve been at a standstill. We’ve had interest all along, but until Highway 100 got resolved, it was hard to do anything because no one really knew what was going to happen,” said Steve Van Buskirk, director of land development for Van Buskirk Cos.

“Three years ago, we were pretty convinced it wouldn’t happen, and then it got life a few years ago with funding, and the dynamics changed a lot. It was always on the drawing board but wasn’t going anywhere, so whatever the sea change was as far as approval of the project, it really got reinvigorated.”

The site at 85th and Minnesota is planned for 32 acres of commercial and 16 acres of multifamily housing.

“You could do continuous development, one gigantic building down there, but I don’t particularly see that, a big larger retailer coming in,” Van Buskirk said. “We would take it, but I would say it’ll be more junior-box development or look more toward individual commercial (spaces).”

He said there has been “interest consistently through the years, but it’s really just getting it all done so people can know the timeline. Having a road project at your front door isn’t very conducive to business, so now we get the development done, and people can get their projects done.”

Van Buskirk plans to grade the site and begin building streets this year.

Overall, the expanded Veterans Parkway is “going to help fill things in. Obviously, we’ve got sanitary sewer limitations, so there’s only so much more development you can do along there, but 85th and Minnesota is certainly going to be helped when it gets that traffic coming,” he said.

“We’ve got the ability to connect the road to 90th Street on the north side of the new high school, so the area is really coming together and has filled in a lot. If you need a large tract of land down there, this is your option now.”

The area around 85th and Cliff north of the future Harrisburg school also is appealing for widespread development, said Ryan Tysdal of Van Buskirk Cos.

“To me, this is a grocery site, maybe a future big-box store,” he said. “I think there could be significant multifamily next to the school — that’s always a draw for developers — similar to Walmart at 85th and Minnesota.”

Much of the land surrounding the 2 miles that will be under construction already is developer-owned or city-owned for detention ponds, Van Buskirk said.

“It’s in another generation of landowners.”