The main road to the commercial area by Walmart is closing for construction Friday. Alternate routes are available.
16th Street SW from Highway 75 to 2nd Ave. SW near Dairy Queen will be closed to remove and replace pavement and do utility work. This closure will remain in place for several months.
During this closure, traffic can use the new 13th St. SW and 2nd Ave. SW or use 20th Street SW to get to the Walmart commercial area. North/south traffic on Highway 75 and access to 16th St. to the east will be open.
Temporary stoplights will be installed at the intersection of 13th St. SW and Highway 75 on Friday and remain active until 16th St. SW reopens.
The work on 16th St. SW is part of the Highway 75 Phase 1 construction. Along with utility improvements, this work also includes rebuilding 16th St. SW with two lanes in each direction as well as a longer area for cars to stack behind each other while waiting for a green light to enter or cross Highway 75.
“These improvements are designed to improve safety and function of this intersection as part of the whole project,” said Utilities Manager Murray Hulstein. “Also, we are taking this opportunity to improve our water and wastewater systems in this area while the area is under construction.”
Both 13th St. SW and 2nd Ave. SW were recently paved to allow for traffic flow during the 16th St. SW closure and to open up a new development area.
“The contractors are keeping this project moving along on or ahead of schedule and they’ve been great in communicating and keeping the big picture of this project and our community in focus,” Hulstein said.
On Highway 75, through travel continues on the east lanes while the contractor prepares the west lanes to be paved, potentially in August. When the west lanes are paved, two-way traffic will shift to those newly paved lanes and work will begin on the east side of the highway.
