South Dakota’s Department of Transportation is midway through a $72 million project to rebuild and widen 15 miles of U.S. 385 through the central Black Hills, where the crash rate runs more than double the state average, according to DOT data. The project, which began in 2024 and is scheduled for full completion in 2027, aims to cut the corridor’s crash rate by 50 percent by eliminating tight curves, expanding sight lines and widening road shoulders.
U.S. 385 is the only major north-south highway through the central Black Hills and a critical artery for a regional tourism industry that generated nearly $2 billion in revenue for South Dakota in 2024.
A corridor with a dangerous record
In the five-year period from 2018 to 2022, DOT data show 187 crashes on the 15-mile segment under construction, resulting in four fatalities and 57 injuries. A third of those wrecks and most of the deaths occurred when motorists left the roadway, which in spots has almost no shoulder space while closely abutting rock walls or rimming atop significant drop-offs.
The construction route runs from Sheridan Lake on the south to the Pennington-Lawrence county line on the north. The highway provides access to Hill City, Custer and Hot Springs and enables visits to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. It is also a primary route for Sturgis Motorcycle Rally attendees.
“The shoulders are wider and the slopes are gentler in case you do run off the road,” Tim Wicks, the DOT engineer overseeing the project, told South Dakota News Watch. “We’re not going to stop every accident, but you’ll have a better chance to avoid it or it will become much less severe.”
Blasting through the Black Hills
The most labor-intensive portion of the work has involved removing giant boulders and slashing away rocky ridges to make room for wider lanes, Wicks said. In a process called “pioneering,” workers clear trees and rocks to build a path to the top of ridges, where construction equipment and dynamite blasts remove rock and form edges before ground-level excavators can safely chip away at the sides.
“You don’t just fly up there and land on the top,” Wicks said. “You have to build a road to get there.”
The work is being performed by Oftedal Construction of Miles City, Montana. As of January 2026, Wicks said the project had run smoothly, with no major delays or worker injuries reported.
“As of now, we are on schedule and very happy with the progress,” Wicks told News Watch. “We’ve had some additional costs that often happen with these kinds of projects, but nothing major.”
Current closures and mixed impacts
The project is in its second major phase and includes a full road closure south of Pactola Reservoir — the last of five such closures — requiring motorists to make a 40-mile detour through Rapid City. Many Black Hills businesses have reported slower sales during the construction period.
Kristen Kilcoin, owner and operator of Three Forks Campground at the intersection of U.S. highways 385 and 16 south of Hill City, said her business saw reduced tourist traffic in recent seasons.
“Some tourists were afraid to use the road because it was hit-or-miss whether it would be closed or if they would hit delays from a pilot car,” she said.
Construction has also brought an unexpected benefit. Kilcoin said her campground has been housing U.S. 385 construction workers, providing a significant off-season revenue boost. She said completed sections of the highway have already improved noticeably.
“It’s going to be really nice, and safer for people driving it,” she said. “There’s a couple places where you don’t even recognize it is the same road.”
Motorists who want to see what the finished highway will look like can drive the completed section north of Pactola Reservoir to the Lawrence County line, where lanes are already widened, shoulders expanded and pavement resurfaced, Wicks said.
Sturgis and final completion
The DOT’s primary goal for 2026 is to have U.S. 385 fully open for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in early August, with smooth road surfaces and the standard 55 mph speed limit restored. In 2024, the highway was open during the rally but construction left road surfaces uneven and gravelly in spots, raising risks for motorcycles.
“That’s still weather-dependent, and issues do pop up. But it should be completely free-flowing traffic during the rally,” Wicks said.
The bulk of road construction is expected to be complete in 2026, with only final surfacing work extending into 2027, Wicks said.
“It’s all being done for safety,” he said.
This story was originally reported by South Dakota News Watch and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.