News Stories

Weeks of brutal winter weather provide South Dakota plows season's first real test - Mitchell Republic 12/30/2022

January 05, 2023
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The South Dakota Department of Transportation is emerging from its first winter test, a two-week stretch of heavy snow, blinding winds and freezing temperatures that prompted rolling closures on the state’s main arteries and left at times thousands of motorists stalling in blizzard conditions. “Visibility was so severe,” said Mike Carlson, the area engineer in the Rapid City region of the state Department of Transportation. “I hadn’t seen it this severe in 40 years.” One day ...

SDDOT provides update on snow cleanup - Keloland 12/27/2022

December 28, 2022
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Snow on South Dakota’s roads has posed big problems for drivers this month. Craig Smith, director of operations with the South Dakota Department of Transportation, gave KELOLAND News on Tuesday afternoon an update on snow cleanup efforts. “We definitely have a lot of drifting that needs to be pushed back along with a lot of roads that have ice and compacted snow,” Smith said. “Fortunately, we’ve got some warmer temperatures out there, so our chemicals, deicing chemical...

No travel advised across all of South Dakota - Keloland 12/22/2022

December 22, 2022
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The snow fall may mostly be gone from much of KELOLAND but the winds are causing ground blizzards. Visibility is affected in most of the state. Shortly after noon Thursday, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety said no travel was advised for all of South Dakota. The DPS sent a public safety alert to smart phones. Interstate 90 from Rapid City to Sioux Falls will close at 5 p.m. Thursday. I-90 from Rapid City to Chamberlain was closed on Wednesday.Read the full s...

Interstate 90 is open in western KELOLAND, but drivers should still be cautious - Keloland 12/19/2022

December 20, 2022
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Snow removal crews across the state have been busy for days, and so have law enforcement agencies. With heavy snow and whiteout conditions, Interstate 90 was nearly impossible to drive on just a few days ago… even for plows. “A lot of people wanted to bypass the interstate, thinking it would be safer to go around but we had more problems over there and a lot of stranded people,” Sgt. Keith Carlson, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, said. Watch or read the full story h...

DOT warns about illegal snow dumping - Keloland 12/19/2022

December 20, 2022
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Watch where you put the piles of snow.  The South Dakota Department of Transportation sent a reminder to commercial snow removal operations and the public about the law regarding excess snow on highway right-of-way.  Watch or read the full story here