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Concrete vs Asphalt.......

May, 03 2005

City to have control over highways Deal with S.D. lets Sioux Falls maintain, patrol roads after state completes planned work Taxpayers soon can take their gripes about potholes, traffic signals and safety concerns along some of Sioux Falls' busiest streets straight to City Hall. And after years of collecting those suggestions for Minnesota Avenue, West 12th Street and East 10th Street, public works director Lyle Johnson is pleased he'll be able to give residents results - without referring them to state workers. "The public drives those roads and assumes we're in charge of them," Johnson told the City Council on Monday night, before members approved a new agreement with the state's transportation department.In the works since 1991, the nine-page document grants local control over stretches of South Dakota highways that fall within city limits. Before handing over maintenance and traffic-control duties, the state will complete its planned work on West 12th Street, including the Interstate 29 exchange. Johnson's department already removes ice and snow. "Some people would ask why we'd want to take on extra responsibility," Councilor Vernon Brown said, offering Johnson a segue into the agreement's benefits."One of the big factors for us is traffic control," Johnson said. "The signals on that trunk system are coordinated by the state, based in Pierre and Mitchell. And to be honest with you, it's much easier to take criticism when you're in Mitchell and Pierre." Councilor Darrin Smith called the agreement "a good deal" for residents. "I think we do a pretty good job of filling potholes" and responding to other concerns, Smith said. But he acknowledged that until now, councilors couldn't do much to improve state highways: "Twelfth Street is easily the street I get the most complaints about."Councilor Kermit Staggers pressed for projected costs to maintain the updated roads, whose surfaces will be concrete rather than asphalt. Johnson couldn't give dollar figures per lane or mile, but he said concrete streets have a longer lifespan. The city will begin to plan for concrete repair in its upcoming 2006-2010 capital improvements plan. The road agreement makes sense for the city for other reasons, Johnson said. The contract commits the state to footing the bill for all but a fraction of the estimated $72.8 million east-side corridor, a four-lane divided highway that will connect interstates 90 and 29 in a loop around the east and south edge of town. The city will reimburse the state only for costs related to a segment on Powderhouse Road, from East 10th Street north to Madison Street. The state will then maintain the entire corridor.In addition, the city will get up to $25 million in state money to pay for several city-initiated projects. Among them is the widening of 60th Street North from Kiwanis to Cliff avenues, complete with an overpass to span railroad tracks at Minnesota Avenue. Johnson said the roadway has gone from "no man's land" to "gridlock" as the northeast portion of town continues to grow. "I think we do very well" in the new agreement, Johnson said, though he told councilors the paperwork was designed to position neither city nor state ahead of the other. Because the city soon will control signal timing at several crucial intersections, the changes could benefit local safety efforts. Included in Sioux Falls' new jurisdiction is the closely watched junction of 10th Street and Minnesota Avenue, where a longtime Argus Leader employee was killed while crossing the street on foot in April 2003.Red-light cameras have reduced the number of violations, but under the current system, the state has been reviewing images before passing along the the most obvious offenses to the city police. Once the agreement is finalized, local police should get the first look and be able to follow up on incidents sooner. Other decisions, such as which street markings to use or directional signs to post, also will fall to local planners.