SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — With Sioux Falls wrapping up its construction season for 2025, the city of Sioux Falls examines what’s next for several of the city’s construction projects that will stretch into 2026.
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Typically, the average construction season in Sioux Falls runs from March through November, depending on the weather.
Arrowhead Parkway & Veterans Parkway intersection
The Veterans and Arrowhead parkway intersection is a major reconstruction project that, when completed, would make the intersection the largest in the state.
Some additions they plan on making to the intersection are lowering the intersection 3–5 feet, adding three pedestrian tunnels, relocating detention ponds, adding dual left-turn lanes from all directions, and realigning the roadway to improve horizontal and vertical sight distance.
Arrowhead Parkway will be closed west of Veterans Parkway for the duration of the 2026 construction season.
Veterans Parkway will remain open to one lane of traffic in each direction at all times during 2026.
Andy Berg, Sioux Falls Engineer, said Arrowhead Parkway east of Veterans Parkway will be opened in the coming weeks over winter, come 2026 they have plans to close the Arrowhead again temporarily.
“We’ll begin by closing the east west single lane traffic that we opened up during the winter we’ll be closing that back off, completing that pavement and that’s hopefully in a 5 to 6 week window and so then maybe end of May we’ll be able to open that east half up.”
Berg said the opening from the east of Arrowhead this winter will only be temporary before the 2026 construction begins.
“Then we’ll close the west half and that will be basically closed through the end of the construction season but we anticipate full completion and open to traffic by the end of 2026.”
Krista May, with Infrastructure Design Group walked through the decision of closing the east of Arrowhead parkway in a public works update, saying this is a safety guard.
“By putting the asphalt transition on the east half, we allow it a winter to sit and settle out and do whatever it’s going to do. We can fix those in the spring and we can pave the rest of that concrete back in the spring.
Cliff Avenue and I-229 Interchange
The Cliff Ave and I-229 interchange is another multi year construction project A Sioux Falls and South Dakota Department of Transportation (SD DOT) project at the intersection of Interstate 229 and Cliff Avenue.
Work in 2026 will consist of installation of traffic control and detours, shift I-229 traffic to the southbound lanes and bridge, construction of the northbound I-229 and the northbound bridge, and construction of the northbound on-ramp and pedestrian tunnel.
“We will get traffic moving through the winter and then they’ll be primarily driving on the southbound lanes, which are on the north side of that interchange,” Berg said. “The southbound lanes will be open to traffic, head to head, two-lane traffic in each direction, and then the south bridges, which are the northbound, those will be closed.”
“The temporary bridge will be moved over the winter over to the Minnesota Avenue interchange, and then all the work on the south side of that interchange will be completed in 2026 with anticipation of opening that back up to traffic at the end of next year.”
Harry Johnson with the South Dakota Department of Transportation said they are expecting to pick the project back up in the spring.
“We will begin moving traffic in the southbound lanes and start removal in the northbound with the bridges,” Johnson said.
South Veterans Parkway
South Veterans Parkway project is part of an ongoing 4-part construction to connect I-229 to I-90, This current phase currently runs from about Cliff Ave to South Sycamore Ave, with this phase set to end sometime next year.
Sycamore Avenue and Southeastern Avenue, two roads that have been closed over the course of this construction will be opening back up on Wednesday, November 5th.
In a previous interview with KELOLAND News, Mike Heiberger, principal engineer for the City of Sioux Falls, said. “They will be gravel surfacing for the winter, and then we will close those two sections of roadways back down next spring when we finish, paving, both those streets as well as the South Veterans Parkway corridor.”
According to the website next year the project is expected to work on dirt and utilities work on Sycamore Ave, as well as paving Sycamore Ave and Veterans Parkway.
Pat Dressen with HDR Engineering said if the weather holds they are hoping to get the bridge deck poured this fall still, saying through the winter, work on the bridge over the railroad tracks will continue.
