As Rapid City continues to grow, there are challenges. Namely, having infrastructure that looks towards the future.
The community was just awarded a $160,000 grant to assess the local infrastructure. Upon completion of this research, doors open for additional grant dollars to turn research into action.
Kip Harrington is Rapid City’s long range planning division manager.
“This is really an opportunity for the public to let us know what they see," Harrington said. "Do you need a crosswalk at a certain intersection? Is there a traffic signal that doesn’t work for you? Are there sidewalks missing in your neighborhood?”
Harrington said its an opportunity to know where precisely to place resources in a larger city than meets the eye.
“The square footage of Rapid City, or the square mileage of Rapid City, is about the same as that in the city of San Francisco, and they have ten times at least more people than we have," Harrington said. "We’re really trying to figure out those infill opportunities, where we can go up rather than out, and maximize the use of our existing infrastructure – existing roads, existing water lines, existing sewer lines.”
To best do that, Harrington said the public needs to chime in.
“This study will really take a look at these areas where we have safety concerns, come up with some recommended improvements to address those safety concerns, and then prioritize those projects – and I really want to emphasize we need as many comments as possible," Harrington said. "If there’s 100 comments out there and 20 are about the same intersection, we know we really need to take a look at that.”
A link to the project website and public comment can be found here.