As part of the $26.4 million Euclid Avenue reconstruction project in Pierre, the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) will be adding warning devices and other safety enhancements to reduce the number of over height vehicles that hit the railroad overpass near the federal building.
Last year, the state legislature changed the name of the segment of U.S. Highways 14/83 that merges with Euclid Avenue through the center of Pierre to S.D. Highway 1889. What was previously designated as the Highway 14/83 Truck Route on Sioux, Wells and Garfield Avenues in Pierre was redesignated as Highway 14/83. The changes were made with the hope that GPS systems will guide semis and other overheight vehicles around the edges of Pierre rather than through the middle of town, thus avoiding an encounter with the infamous train bridge.
Additionally, work done by the train bridge during the first year of the Euclid project included lowering the road approximately nine inches. The elevation difference essentially changed the clearance height from 11-feet-3-inches to 12 feet.
An overheight detection system installed in 2010 will be removed entirely and replaced with hanging clearance markers on both sides of the railroad overpass. The “clanker system” is designed to alert overheight vehicles before they reach the railroad overpass. If a vehicle makes physical contact with a hanging clearance marker, it will trigger an indicator telling the driver that the vehicle is too tall to fit under the train bridge. The hanging clearance markers will not cause damage to vehicles.
Other safety enhancements include:
- an LED stop sign for northbound traffic that will light up when a vehicle triggers the over height system
- a digital message board being activated directing a southbound vehicle that triggers the over height system to go west on Pleasant Drive, thus going around the train bridge
The overall project completion date, including the over height vehicle safety enhancements, is Nov. 20, 2026.
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