BROOKINGS — With a ribbon cutting near the site, the opening of the 20^th Street South Interchange off Interstate 29 now offers motorists a new way to drive into Brookings.

The Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce took the lead in putting together the ceremony, which was held at 10 a.m. Wednesday to honor the many elected officials — federal, state and local — and the many other private groups and individuals who helped bring the project to fruition. In addition to the many dignitaries, a good-sized number of the general public were in attendance, not deterred by a hot sun overhead.

State Sen. Tim Reed (R-Brookings) and chief operating officer of the Brookings Economic Corp. started by singling out by name some of those dignitaries in attendance and calling for a round of applause for them.

“The vision of a southside connection to the eastside started more than a decade ago,” Reed explained. Key people he cited were: Al Kurtenbach, Van Fishback, Al Heuton (absent), Keith Corbett, and the members of Vision Brookings and the East Brookings Business & Industry Association.

“So this basically became a reality in 2019, led by Al Heuton, the City (of Brookings) and the County (of Brookings),” the senator continued. A federal grant of $18.7 million was awarded. The City and County each contributed $2 million to the project. Vision Brookings contributed $700,000. Local effort in the project was 20 percent.

“So that was great, we got the project going on and then something really great happened,” Reed added. “Our local contractor, Bowes Construction, got the contract (with a low bid of $15.3 million.).” Local contractor members were present and given a round of applause.

South Dakota Secretary of Transportation Joel Jundt next spoke, noting that the project “had been a long time in coming.” He thanked several of his staff. He spoke on behalf of Gov. Kristi Noem, who apologized for being unable to attend but thanked everybody for “making the project a reality.”

He noted that transportation “is a vital and critical thing for us, each and every day.” The now completed interchange “will interconnect with 80,000 miles” of roads in South Dakota.

The secretary noted that “while much has been accomplished, there is much to be done.” He ended his remarks by thanking all the entities, public and private, that had worked “very, very hard” on completing the interchange project.

Dusty Johnson, South Dakota’s at-large member of the U.S. House of Representatives, lauded South Dakotans for “being a lot better at partnerships and a lot better at teamwork. … When a lot of us think about (Washington) D.C. we think about nightmares or problems. But today we get to celebrate the adage that teamwork makes the dream work. As much as we like to think that politicians are lost and can’t be found, this project is getting done today because of people at the local, state and federal level willing to make sure that Brookings and the surrounding area continues to grow. Congratulations.”

Brookings Mayor Ope Niemeyer called the I-29 Exit 130 Interchange project: “a perfect example of what can be accomplished through public and private partnerships.” He recognized several local organization and businessmen in them who were key to the project’s coming to fruition: Vision Brookings, Jay Bender; East Brookings Business & Industry Association, Al Kurtenbach; Van Fishback, “who was always in support of the project”; Banner Associates, Daryl Englund; Brookings Economic Corp., Al Heuton (absent); former Brookings County Commissioner Leanne Pierce; several present and former members of the Brookings City Council; former mayors of Brookings, Keith Corbett and Tim Reed; retired Brookings City Manager Jeff Weldon; retired City Engineer Jackie Lanning; current staff, including  Charlie Richter, Thad Drietz and John Thompson; and finally, Dusty Johnson and U.S. senators John Thune and Mike Rounds, who was unable to attend but sent his congratulations.

The mayor noted that the new interchange was needed for two reasons: safety and connectivity. Added that the new “connectivity is essential for the second-largest industrial  city in South Dakota.”

Additionally, Niemeyer noted that “the new interchange will spur economic growth.”

Passionate about infrastructure

Following his remarks, the mayor introduced Sen. John Thune, the keynote speaker and “the Whip, the No. 2 man in the Senate.”

Thune called the occasion a “really good Go Jacks Day.” He added that interchange project was “a wonderful accomplishment for this community. One for which I am grateful —for all the partnerships, cooperation and teamwork that Dusty talked about. It really is true.”

Thune lauded the Brookings Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce, City of Brookings and County of Brookings: “Everybody teamed together on this. It really is a great accomplishment.”

He looked back on the 1998 Highway Bill, on which he played a major role, “that was consequential for South Dakota for a lot of reasons: We were able to get the four-lane highway to Aberdeen from I-29, a four-lane highway from I-90 up to Pierre. At that time Pierre was one of only two state capitals in the entire country that wasn’t served by a four-lane highway. We did the four-lane highway from Mitchell to Huron. Those were all part of that first highway bill that I was involved with back in 1998.

In 2005 as a member of the Senate committee that authorizes highway funding, we did a ton of projects across South Dakota as well.”

The senator explained that he is “passionate about infrastructure. I think it is so critical and it is so important for our country to recognize the contributions that the middle of the country makes.

“The ag economy, all the industrial and agricultural businesses enterprises that we have in this country, they really originate right here in this area. And investments that we make in infrastructure allows that farm to market transportation to work effectively and smoothly and get products to their destination.”

He added that the interchange project took “a lot of cooperation and teamwork and one that I am pleased has reached its fruition.”

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.