What Happens to Piedmont's Exit 46 Work Between Thanksgiving and March?

Phase one of the Exit 46 rebuild is scheduled to finish on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2026, the day before Thanksgiving. When the cones come off I-90 and fresh pavement shows up on Sturgis Road and Elk Creek Road, it will look like the project is nearly done. The schedule says otherwise. Opening the new interchange, removing the old one and rebuilding westbound I-90 near Exit 44 are all set for the 2027 season. The eastbound lanes follow in 2028.

So the stretch from Thanksgiving to March is a pause after the first of three phases. Piedmont drivers will spend this winter on the same Exit 46 they've always used, while the new one waits half-built next to it.

What Nov. 25 finishes, and what it leaves standing

The South Dakota Department of Transportation's project page lists four pieces of work in the first phase:

1. Realigning Elk Creek Road
2. Rebuilding a portion of Sturgis Road
3. Building the new Exit 46 ramps
4. Partly building the new bridges over I-90 and over the railroad

Item four matters most. Both bridges stay unfinished over the winter. SDDOT puts completion of those bridges in phase two, together with "opening the new interchange to traffic" and demolishing the existing one. The overpass Piedmont uses now will keep carrying traffic through the winter even though the department says it has "reached the end of its service life."

The most visible change this fall will be on local roads. In its Sept. 21, 2026 update, SDDOT said both Sturgis Road and Elk Creek Road are expected to be paved by the end of November. KOTA's Sept. 23 report on the project gave the same outlook. Those are target dates, and Sept. 21 is the most recent update on the project page as of mid-October. A cold snap could move them.

The work zone you're driving through this month

Interstate traffic around Piedmont has been down to one lane in each direction since Monday, Aug. 17. SDDOT announced that date for work on new exit ramps, bridge foundations and drainage structures between Exit 44 and Exit 48. The state had already set that limit before construction began. When KELOLAND News covered the contract award in May, it reported that no work affecting I-90 traffic could start before Aug. 17 without SDDOT approval.

Here's how the zone is set up, based on SDDOT's updates from Aug. 13 and Sept. 21:

The westbound reduction runs past the old exit and continues to Exit 44, which ties into the next part of the story. The project also puts new concrete pavement on I-90 from Exit 44 to mile marker 47. Phase two rebuilds the westbound lanes near Exit 44, so the interstate work continues after the interchange is finished.

SDDOT has also warned that temporary traffic diversions may happen during construction. That covers trips like a fuel stop at Big D at 15003 Sturgis Rd. The state's stated commitment is that access stays open and any change is clearly marked.

Why the new bridge has to clear the railroad too

The railroad is one of the main reasons the project uses new alignments. Elk Creek Road currently crosses the Rapid City, Pierre and Eastern Railroad at grade, on the same level as the tracks. When the project is done, the road will run over the tracks on a bridge. The SDDOT project map shows new connections on both sides of I-90, with changes to Elk Creek Road, Spring Valley Road and Sturgis Road.

That rail piece brought in federal money. In January 2025, DRGNews reported that the Federal Railroad Administration awarded up to $15,968,864 from its Railroad Crossing Elimination Grant Program for the "I-90 Exit 46 (Elk Creek Road) Railroad Crossing Removal Project." SDDOT is paying the 20 percent non-federal match. The award qualified under the program's set-aside for rural counties with 20 or fewer residents per square mile, and it names connectivity for Piedmont and Summerset as a goal. The federal announcement describes the program's general purpose as preventing collisions and blocked crossings that hold up drivers and emergency responders.

The design work goes back years. In March 2021, KBHB reported that SDDOT was planning a major rebuild because of safety and operations concerns. Those included how close the interchange sits to Elk Creek and Sturgis roads, the at-grade crossing east of I-90, and the fact that the existing bridge has no space for pedestrians or cyclists.

The price tag, and why nobody expected this to be fast

With a new bridge over I-90, a second bridge over the tracks and new interstate pavement in the scope, the project is the largest single contract SDDOT has awarded. On May 15, 2026, the state Transportation Commission awarded it to Heavy Constructors Inc. of Rapid City. The company was the lowest of three bidders at $77,697,290.36, which is 9.8 percent above the department's own estimate of $70,756,916.42. KELOLAND News reported that the previous record for a single contract was the I-90/Veterans Interchange near Sioux Falls, bid in November 2017 at about $54 million. Piedmont probably won't hold the record long. Transportation Secretary Joel Jundt told the commission the Missouri River bridge replacement on SD Highway 44 between Platte and Winner is expected to cost more.

In the same KELOLAND report, Commissioner Ron Rosenboom of Sturgis, who lives in the project area, described the wait like this:

"The people in Piedmont will be pleased, I believe, they're getting that upgrade to that site. It's been kind of a long haul on that."

Jundt was just as direct about the timeline. KELOLAND quoted him: "It will take us three years to get it done." Phase one is the first of those three years.

The calendar from here to 2028

Once phase one ends, this is the schedule SDDOT has published. All dates are anticipated, not guaranteed.

The table shows when the big change comes. The day Piedmont switches from the old Exit 46 to the new one falls inside phase two, sometime between March and November 2027. SDDOT hasn't announced a specific date for that switch. Until then, the winter is a gap between phases. The old overpass stays in use, the new ramps and half-finished bridges sit next to it, and the interstate is expected to be back to full lanes after November.

Keeping up without refreshing the project page

The quickest updates go out by text. SDDOT runs a free alert service for major traffic changes. Text i90exit46 to 605-566-4041 to sign up, and you can unsubscribe anytime. The department also has a newsletter sign-up on the project page for regular progress reports.

SDDOT has held public meetings before and may hold more. Ahead of this season's work, the department scheduled an informational meeting for July 8, 2026, in the old gymnasium at Piedmont Valley Elementary, 16159 N. 2nd St., where SDDOT and contractor staff were set to go over the project scope and the order of construction, as KBHB reported in June. If the department holds another one before phase two starts in March, the text line and the project page are the two places it will likely be announced.

Our team at The Kahler Team drives Sturgis Road and Elk Creek Road along with you, and we're keeping an eye on what the 2027 interchange switch could mean for homes near the new alignment. If you're wondering how a home near Exit 46 is valued while the work goes on, ask us for a free home valuation and we'll go through it with you.