STURGIS - Nearly 60 people turned out for an open house informational meeting on the Junction Avenue Corridor Study on Tuesday at the Sturgis Community Center.

The event was co-hosted by the South Dakota Department of Transportation, the City of Sturgis and the JEO Consulting Group. 

The purpose of this study is to evaluate existing and anticipated future conditions of the corridor and determine potential near- and long-term improvements on the 1.1-mile portion of Junction Avenue from Harmon Street on the north, to Pine View Drive on the south. 

At the open house, city staff along with engineers from JEO Consulting Group and the D.O.T. were on hand to provide information and to take comments and suggestions on proposed improvements.

“The purpose of the open house public meeting was to discuss and gather input to help shape the long-range vision of the Junction Avenue corridor,” said Steve Gramm, Planning Squad Leader for the South Dakota DOT. 

Sturgis Planning & Permitting Director Dave Smith provided an overview of the project for attendees at the open house.

“I was basically explaining the project to people and what we were looking at for possible solution. Throughout that entire process of all the people I spoke with, I only had one person that had negative comments,” Smith said.

Smith said several people asked about when the project might start and how much it would cost.

Because Junction Avenue is not maintained by the D.O.T. any improvements approved would need to be funded by the city.

“There is the possibility of grants that can come from the state, but the funding needs to be set aside in the city’s infrastructure improvement fund. This isn’t all going to happen at once. It could be five to 10 years down the road. Whatever it might be, it's going to happen in steps or phases,” he said. 

There are nine intersections in the project area, each being evaluated for operations and alignments. For example, there are two locations in the corridor where two t-intersections are close in proximity but not aligned east-west. They are the Anna/Vanocker Canyon intersections and the Harmon/Ball Park Road intersections. The D.O.T. says this misalignment contributes to non-standard turning patterns and results in the potential for additional crashes.

At the open house, the D.O.T. showed several proposed alternatives for both intersections.

The Anna/Vanocker Road project includes the addition of signals, realignment of both intersections and adding a roundabout.

Improving the Harmon Street/Ball Park Road intersection is more difficult because of the non-standard turning pattern due to the close proximity of the two streets. The D.O.T.’s proposal includes a signal reconstruction at Ball Park or a roundabout connecting the two streets.

Another alternative to improving the corridor is to add a divided median or a two-way left turn lane to reduce the likelihood of head-to-head collisions and conflicts from left-turns into oncoming traffic.

The city and D.O.T. are also working on proposed improvements to bike paths and sidewalks in the area.

Public comment on proposed improvements is being accepted until June 23.

You can find details on the project and solutions at Official Website of the City of Sturgis, SD - Junction Avenue Corridor Study (sturgis-sd.gov)