FHWA Administrator Mendez Visits Sioux Falls' Cliff Avenue Interchange Project |
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Topics: Victor Mendez
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Federal Highway Administration
29 August 2013
FHWA 38-13
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Contact: Doug Hecox
202-366-0660
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez today joined South Dakota Transportation Secretary Darin Bergquist for a briefing and tour on the progress of the ongoing reconstruction of the Cliff Avenue interchange project that will improve local pavement condition, upgrade street lighting and extend the useful life of one of Sioux Falls' busiest interchanges.
"President Obama has been sounding the call to 'Fix it First' to ensure we're investing in the roads and highways we depend on every day," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "The Cliff Avenue project is doing just that and making travel for Sioux Falls drivers safer and more efficient."
The reconstructed $21.1 million interchange, which is being built with $15.5 million in federal highway funds, is the interchange's first overhaul in more than a half-century. When completed later this year, the interchange, which is already partly open to traffic, will offer improved freight movement for the area and better access between Cliff Avenue and I-90 for the two routes' estimated 31,650 daily drivers. The previous interchange structures, considered "functionally obsolete" by state inspectors due to the bridge's narrow width, opened to traffic in 1961.
"Improving this critical interchange will improve safety for the many drivers who depend on this route every day," said Administrator Mendez. "This new interchange creates local jobs in the short term and, better still, builds a foundation for Sioux Falls' continuing economic growth in the long term."
Given its proximity to major energy and agricultural interests nearby, I-90 is one of the region's major commercial trucking routes, serving South Dakota and neighboring Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and several other northern tier states.