Construction Beginning on U.S. Highway 18 / U.S. Highway 385 North of Oelrichs

For Immediate Release:  Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Contact: Matt “Rip” Rippentrop, 605-673-9016

OELRICHS, S.D. – The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) says 10 miles of work on U.S. Highway 18 / U.S. Highway 385 will begin Monday, March 15, 2021. The construction begins one-half mile north of Oelrichs and continues toward the Smithwick Road turnoff.

Construction work will repair the southbound lane with three total reconstruction areas and includes one box culvert replacement, asphalt surface milling, and new asphalt surfacing.

Traffic will be reduced to two head to head lanes for the 10 miles of construction with two crossovers used to move the traffic.

Motorists are asked to be prepared for the use of flaggers, a grooved surface, 12-foot width restrictions, and suddenly slowing, merging, or stopped traffic. 

Motorists should also be aware of construction workers and equipment adjacent to the driving lane, and to slow down to posted speed limits through the work zone. The speed limit in the head to head laneswill be reduced from 70 mph to 55 mph through the work zone and further reduced to 45 mph when workers are present during daylight hours.

The project is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 29, 2021. The primary contractor on this $7.9 million project is Bituminous Paving, Inc. of Ortonville, Minnesota.

For further information regarding this project, contact Matt “Rip” Rippentrop at 605-673-9016.

Read more about the innovative work of the SDDOT at https://dot.sd.gov.

Complete road construction information can be found at www.sd511.org or dial 511.

- 30 -