While homeowners have legitimate questions about this road;
They’re worried the six-lane highway that will handle close to 30,000 vehicles a day is being built so close to their homes.
“A semi is 70 thousand pounds loaded, it takes 265 feet to stop at 60 mph that’s 130 feet off this person’s property here and the one back further is 120 feet,” Kampa said.
“My concern is the safety mainly and also the noise,” Wayne Wilhelmi said.
Wayne Wilhelmi built his house in 2015 and was never told Veterans Parkway was going to be in his backyard.
The real question is who is investing in development along the road.
But the city says landowners have been well informed and knew about this highway for years.
I will agree that this has been in the news for several years, and not insider city news, I think every major media source in Sioux Falls has been covering this road plan which was first initiated in 2003 and updated to final design in 2011.
I would agree we need another corridor in Sioux Falls, but I’m not sure a high speed road next to residential is the answer.
But one question I have been nagging reporters about for several years is looking into who is investing in development along the road, and specifically if any local elected officials (councilors, county commissioners, mayor, etc.) are investing in it thru various LLCs and different private investor groups.
I understand that getting this kind of information can be difficult, but I would encourage reporters to just ASK all our local elected officials if they or their spouse have any investments along this corridor. If they all say NO, your work is cut out for you, start digging, because guardrails and brakes on a semi-trucks is just a small part of this behemoth running thru our town.