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County highway department to advertise bridge preservation projects, buys new motor grader and applies for FLAP grant
Summary
Pennington County authorized calling bids on four bridge preservation projects funded by the county wheel-tax/BRIDGE grant program, approved purchase of a 2026 John Deere motor grader under Sourcewell, and approved applying for a Federal Lands Access Program grant to pave Sage Creek Road.
Pennington County commissioners on Oct. 7 approved a set of highway actions: the department will advertise and bid four bridge-preservation projects, purchase a 2026 motor grader under the Sourcewell cooperative contract, and submit a Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant application to hard-surface an unfinished section of Sage Creek Road.
Highway Superintendent Joe reported the bridge projects — at locations identified as Forest Road, Lower Spring Creek Road, North Peak Road and Shields Road — were pre-approved by the state as part of the county’s bridge-preservation program and will be advertised for competitive bids in the fall for 2026 construction. He reminded the board that since implementation of the county wheel tax in 2021 the county had received approximately $4.6–$5.3 million in BRIDGE-program construction and construction-engineering dollars to support bridge preservation work.
The board also authorized the purchase of a 2026 John Deere 772P motor grader from RDO Equipment (Rapid City) under Sourcewell cooperative purchasing contract 011723-JDC. The highway superintendent said the lead time was about six months and that the county aims to take delivery in January or February to have graders ready for spring road work. The trade-in value cited for the county’s current grader was $190,500; staff described ownership cost over seven years of roughly $126,000 (about $18,000 per year).
Finally the board approved submitting a South Dakota Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) grant application to hard-surface about 5.6 miles of Sage Creek Road, which would complete connected paved access between Highway 44 and the scenic interior roads. County staff said stabilization and base work were completed earlier and that FLAP funding would finish pavement and shoulder work to improve public and agricultural access.
Motions to advertise the bridge bids, to approve the grader purchase and to submit the FLAP grant application all passed without objection.
Highway staff said they would return with bid results for the bridge projects and standard equipment-delivery paperwork once the grader order is firm.
