Highway 14 Through Huron, South Dakota

 I grew up knowing this road as part of my Saturday morning "Flip the Loop" routine - see map below - over and over, all the while looking for other people we knew who were doing the same thing.  This was usually done with a carload of people.  Being the only one of my crowd with a car, my friends were all more than happy to give me $1 each to pay for gas.  Thanks to the cheap gas prices of 1975, it turned out to be a little bit of a money maker as well.  But with all the miles I drove on that road, I never once wondered how it came to be.

It began early in 1956, when the State Highway Department began planning a six-lane re-routing of Highway 14 through Huron (two lanes eastbound, two lanes westbound, and a two-lane service road).  A new 3 1/2 mile stretch of road would connect the "present" US 14 near Brewery Hill with the highway west of town at the fairgrounds without routing traffic through town.  At that time, westbound Highway 14 followed the river to 3rd street, then continued to Lincoln ave., then north to "Old Highway 14."  The new road would follow 4th St. NE. 

 The graphic below shows the old route and the proposed route on top, and the current Google Earth map of the highway.

The estimated cost of this project was $1.2 million, with Huron paying about $40,000, half the cost of acquiring the rights of way.  The other half would be paid b the Bureau of Public Roads.  The remainder of the cost would be paid by the state and federal governments. 

The original route was creating a great deal of traffic congestion along 3rd street; Market Road was initially considered to play at role but due to limitations Fourth Street N. was concluded to be a better option.

Businesses that were impacted by this construction were the Oasis Bar (368 Dakota N.), Durmy's Taxidermy (362 Dakota N.), an unnamed filling station, and Rosebud Oil Company (359 Illinois NW).  Several houses also needed to be moved.  Northside Memorial Park would be reduced in size "considerably."

Work commenced in April of 1958 and the west portion was open to traffic in October of that year.  Work on the other side would start in 1959.  The project was completed in 1961, with 5 miles of 4 lane highway.  Total cost of the work was $2.25 million.

Sources:

1955 Huron, South Dakota City Directory
1957 Huron, South Dakota City Directory
Google Earth
Huronite and Daily Plainsman, Huron, South Dakota, March 01, 1956
Huronite and Daily Plainsman, Huron, South Dakota, April 4, 1956
Huronite and Daily Plainsman, Huron, South Dakota, April 8, 1956
Huronite and Daily Plainsman, Huron, South Dakota, May 15, 1957
Huronite and Daily Plainsman, Huron, South Dakota, June 25, 1958
Huronite and Daily Plainsman, Huron, South Dakota, Oct. 9, 1958
Huron Daily Plainsman, Sept. 4, 1960
Huron Daily Plainsman, Dec. 31, 1961
Apple Maps