Nearly 30 years ago, Sioux Falls city planners had a vision for an additional east-side parkway. In 1995, had the foresight to know that I-229 alone wasn't enough to handle future east-side traffic demands, and a second highway band was needed. The vision for Veterans Parkway was to relieve traffic on the growing east side of the city by connecting I-90 in the north to I-29 in the south.

Now that the north half of the project is done, work on the second and final south stretch is moving forward.

South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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According to the South Dakota Department of Transportation, construction of the southern portion of Veterans Parkway in Sioux Falls is set to begin in the Spring of 2023. The project will occur in segments, with each segment taking about two years.

South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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The first section will be a new three-lane road between Western Avenue and Cliff Avenue. It's scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2024.

South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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Three other segments of the project are currently still in design.  Segment two will connect Western Ave to I-29 and is scheduled to begin Spring of 2024 and be completed in the Fall of 2025.

South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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Segment three will join Cliff Ave to Sycamore Ave. It will begin Spring of 2025 and finish in the Fall of 2026.

South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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South Dakota Drone/YouTube
South Dakota Drone/YouTube
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The fourth and final segment will connect sycamore ave to 57th Street. Work is scheduled to begin Spring of 2026 and wrap up in the Fall of 2027.

Carsen Bower with the YouTube channel South Dakota Drone has a new video that flies over the future route of South Veterans Parkway. See it below.

See How East 10th Street in Sioux Falls Has Changed

It's really interesting using Google Streetview to compare the changes from the earliest pictures to the latest.

For Sioux Falls, the earliest views are from 2008 and the latest from early 2022.

Some of the looks aren't the clearest, but it still gives a real good look at how dynamic the east side of Sioux Falls is.

South Dakota True Crime

South Dakota may have a smaller population, but the state is not immune to the worst impulses of humans.

Take a deep dive into some of South Dakota’s most notorious and little know murders, missing persons, and other true crime stories from the Mount Rushmore State.

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