Benson Road bridge to close for full deck replacement

Start planning a different route in north Sioux Falls if you use Benson Road.

The road will close today from Minnesota to Fourth avenues, allowing crews to begin maintenance and repair work on the bridge over the diversion channel.

Traffic will detour from Benson to 60th Street North from Minnesota and Cliff avenues. Businesses on the bridge’s east side will maintain access via Benson from the east.

The city recreation trail that passes beneath the bridge also will be closed during construction, and a detour will be provided across Benson Road  outside the work zone but within the street closure.

The $4.3 million project will include the complete removal and replacement of the bridge deck, although the concrete girders and everything below the bridge deck will remain in place. The recreation trail under the bridge also be will be removed and replaced. The need to replace the bridge deck was identified through regularly scheduled inspections.<

The city received $1.9 million from the state of South Dakota’s Bridge Improvement Grant program, which is administered by the Department of Transportation.

The BIG program is funded by license plate fees, gas tax funds and other state and federal funding and is used to support municipalities and counties with bridge preservation and reconstruction. The city has received BIG funds for bridge preservation on about 10 bridges, but the Benson Road bridge project is the largest BIG funding the city has received for a project. Additional funding for the project will come from federal American Rescue Plan Act funds and local sales tax revenue.

“As always, we urge drivers to use caution and slow down in construction zones,” said Michell Knoll, city engineering project manager.

Benson Road is expected to reopen to traffic in late November, and the project will be completed in early May 2025.