With Rounds, Thune Support, Tea and U.S. Highway 83 Receive Critical Infrastructure Grants
U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) today applauded the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) decision to award the City of Tea’s County Highway 106 project and South Dakota Department of Transportation’s U.S. Highway 83 project $8.7 million and $20 million, respectively, in critical infrastructure funding under the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program. Today’s announcement follows multiple requests from the senators to DOT Secretary Elaine Chao for these projects’ funding.
“I thank Secretary Chao for recognizing the need to invest in these important infrastructure projects,” said Rounds. “The Highway 106 and Highway 83 projects will not only benefit the surrounding communities, they will allow for increased transport of goods and commodities across the region – a surefire boon to the regional economy.”
The City of Tea plans to move forward with the reconstruction of a portion of Highway 106, located in the southwest Sioux Falls metropolitan area. Since the route from Interstate 29 to 469th Avenue is the community’s primary and commercial and residential transportation thoroughfare, County Highway 106 experiences substantial vehicle traffic each day, creating unsafe driving conditions.
The proposed project in Tea would rebuild the rural, two-lane highway into a four-lane divided highway with limited access. The reconstruction would not only provide important safety upgrades but would also provide a reliable and effective transportation route.
U.S. 83 is a north-south highway cutting across South Dakota and America’s heartland. Once the only paved route stretching from Canada to Mexico, this thoroughfare continues to be an integral part of our National Highway System. Navigating through six states and critical to our nation’s agriculture and energy sectors, access and connectivity enhancements to U.S. Highway 83 are essential to ensuring an efficient transportation network.
South Dakota Department of Transportation plans to move forward with grading, freight climbing lanes, resurfacing, drainage, shoulder work, and other features along 23 miles of U.S. Highway 83. This project is an important component of a longer corridor augmentation along the highway between South Dakota and Nebraska.
###
