Soon we will be entering the final stretch of summer. Cooler weather will be here before you know it. The kids will be back in school, Halloween candy will be on store shelves, and everyone will be digging out their favorite fall and winter clothes again!

It's sure to be an oh crap moment for some people, and an I can't wait for others. Especially after the pressure cooker we are experiencing this summer.

The one thing that will remain unchanged over the next few months, road construction.

Detours, delays, and traffic backups will unfortunately still be will us for the next several weeks.

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I have lived in the Sioux Falls area most of my life, and I honestly do not remember ever seeing this many construction projects happening at one time in the city. And from what I understand, next summer's construction schedule appears to be just as busy, if not a little busier in some cases.

I think pretty much every resident here in the Sioux Empire will agree the streets of Sioux Falls were in need of a desperate makeover. The combination of deteriorating roads and poor traffic flow dictated the need for that to happen.

With that said, it still doesn't make things any less frustrating when trying to navigate the construction maze that is currently found on many Sioux Falls streets.

Drivers need patience and lots of it at a time like this.

The good news, a lot of the construction projects underway in Sioux Falls at the moment are in the middle, and some of them are even close to wrapping up.

Brad Ludens, the Principal Engineer for the City of Sioux Falls, told Dakota News Now, “The city bids out in between 100 and 120 projects every year and about half of those impact streets in some way, form, or fashion, so it’s another big year, and we have projects spread out all over the city."

Ludens stressed the need for drivers to remain focused while behind the wheel as the city continues to press forward with its many maintenance projects. He told Dakota News Now, "Pay attention to your surroundings, watch what the other motorists are doing, put your phone down, the text message can wait, the phone call can wait, and just try and give yourself a little extra time. If you can leave early, maybe take a little different route to work to avoid the construction altogether, those are all things you can do to help decrease the amount of distraction that there is as you’re driving."

At any rate, smoother roads are ahead. Just prepare yourself to dodge orange cones for a little while longer on the streets of Sioux Falls.

Remember, you can always stay one step ahead of the ongoing construction projects in the area by getting street project updates here.

Source: Dakota News Now