Road Report: June 17, 2024

Construction season is here, so we’re back with our weekly look at what projects are done, where you’ll find traffic impacts and what’s scheduled next.

What’s underway

Sixth Street: Work on Sixth Street between the Big Sioux River and Weber Avenue is nearing completion.

The bridge over the river reopened to provide access to the businesses along Sixth Street on the west side of the project earlier this spring, and the bike trail reopened right before Memorial Day.

The underground utility work is now complete on the east half of the project, and grading and gravel installation is in progress.

Work is expected to be complete in August, weather permitting.

Benson & I-229: Road crews continue to make progress at the Benson Road and Interstate 229 interchange.

Paving for the southbound on-ramp is in progress, and it’s expected to reopen to traffic in early July.

Bridge paving work is also in progress.

Paving on Benson Road and Lewis Avenue will be starting in the next few weeks after final grading work is complete.

Benson Road will reopen fully to traffic later this year.

The final work to convert the interchange into the diverging diamond configuration is scheduled for spring 2025.

41st Street: The full closure of 41st Street west of Ellis Road that originally was scheduled to be complete June 14 will continue until at least Tuesday because of  weather. Traffic will continue to be detoured to 12th Street via Ellis Road or 466th Avenue.

What’s next

Beginning today, weather permitting:

• Grange Avenue will be closed between 22nd and 33rd streets to allow crews to perform road maintenance work. The intersection of 26th Street and Grange Avenue will remain open to east and west traffic. This work is expected to be complete by the end of the day Monday.
• The outside southbound lane on Minnesota Avenue will be closed between Ninth and 10th streets to allow crews to perform concrete repairs. This work is expected to be complete in about one week.
• The outside southbound lane on Minnesota Avenue will be closed between 16th and 17th streets to allow crews to perform concrete repairs. Two southbound lanes of traffic will be maintained during construction. This work is expected to be complete in about one week.
• The inside southbound lane on Kiwanis Avenue will be closed between 12th and 13th streets to allow crews to perform concrete repairs. This work is expected to be complete in about one week.
• The  outside southbound lane of Highline Avenue will be closed north of Red Oak Drive to allow crews to construct a pullout for a new bus stop location. This work is expected to be complete in late July.
• Sertoma Avenue will be closed from 26th to 41st streets to allow crews to perform asphalt milling. Local traffic will be maintained during construction. Sertoma will reopen in the evenings and then close again in the morning. After the asphalt milling is completed, Sertoma will be reopened to through traffic until paving starts later this month. The milling work is expected to be complete in about three days.

Beginning Tuesday, the outside northbound lane closure on Minnesota Avenue currently in place between 26th and 33rd streets will be extended north to 18th Street to allow crews to complete sidewalk improvements along the east side of Minnesota. Southbound traffic will not be impacted at this time. This is the second of four phases of the project, which includes replacing portions of the sidewalk on both sides of Minnesota  from 18th to 33rd streets. The entire project is anticipated to be completed in August.

Beginning Wednesday, the outside westbound lane of 57th Street will be closed between Sycamore and Florence avenues to allow crews to work on improvements to the intersection of 57th Street and Graystone Avenue.  The sidewalk along the north side of 57th between Bahnson and Sycamore avenues also will be closed, and pedestrian traffic will be detoured to the sidewalk along the south side of 57th.  This work is expected to be complete in mid-July.

Beginning Thursday, sections of the recreation trail will undergo temporary closures to allow crews to apply a seal coat to parts of the trail in two zones. The work will cause intermittent closures on the trail. Each section will take about 10 days to complete. Closures will last four to eight hours while crews are working and will not occur on weekends.

• • • Zone 1: Starts Thursday, and consists of a 4-mile section through Beadle Park on 11th Street to Tuthill Park on Cliff Avenue.
    • Zone 2: Starts Monday, July 1, and consists of a 2.5-mile section through Sherman Park and from 12th to 41st streets.