RAPID CITY, SD — As parents prepare for the coming school year, concerns have been raised about Corral Drive reconstruction efforts by both individuals and city officials. In a press conference today city and construction representatives have stated that they expect much of the route at the intersection of Corral and Sheridan Lake Rd. to be clear by the start of the school semester on Tuesday.
Starting in May 2024 the project has caused issues at the intersection of Corral Drive and Canyon Lake Road due to its one-lane configuration and slow flow of traffic, which is only exacerbated by it being the only route for some families between them and their child’s school, with Corral Drive Elementary School on the other side.
“There’s been a tremendous push,” said John Van Beek, president of Avid4 Engineering, who said that contractors, subcontractors and the Rapid City government have been emphasizing the necessity of the project’s completion by the start of the school year next week.
“this last month or so, with the with the heavy rains that are not heavy rains, but frequent rains that we’ve seen have certainly made things challenging. The traffic through through this project has been a constant battle,” said Van Beek, who went on to speak to the difficulties of organizing traffic while trying to reconstruct the entirety of the road and without disrupting utilities. “To get to get to the point where we’re putting down pavement or we’re putting down pavement markings, or we’re putting that final seating and sodding in, there’s a tremendous amount of work that that doesn’t really get acknowledged or seen until we’re in the situation where we are like now, where the striping is going down, the cones are starting to come down, and We’re seeing the end product.”
In the next few weeks, Van Beek said to expect traffic patterns to be back to normal, but expect finishing touches such as striping to be completed, and traffic to be directed outside of peak hours for the route.