U.S. Route 16 in South Dakota

U.S. Highway 16
Current US 16 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by SDDOT
Length	69.00 mi[1] (111.04 km)
Existed	1926–present
Major junctions
West end	US 16 at Wyoming state line
Major intersections	US 385 / US 16A in Custer US 385 in Three Forks US 16A near Keystone SD 44 in Rapid City
East end	I-190 / I-90 in Rapid City
Location
Counties	Custer, Pennington
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided South Dakota State Trunk Highway System Interstate US State
← SD 15 → SD 16

U.S. Highway 16 eastbound at the Keystone Wye

U.S. Highway 16 (US 16) is a 69-mile-long (111 km) east–west U.S. Highway in the western part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It travels between Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Rapid City. In South Dakota, the highway extends from the Wyoming state line near Newcastle, Wyoming to Interstate 90 (I-90) in Rapid City.

Route description[]

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US 16 is also known as Mount Rushmore Road in western South Dakota. The highway enters South Dakota east of Newcastle, Wyoming. It travels near Jewel Cave, the third-longest cave in the world.^[2] The highway goes through the city of Custer and shares alignment with US 385. East of Hill City, US 16 splits off US 385. It then becomes a four-lane divided highway, with the two roadways separated by up to 0.5 miles (0.80 km) in some places, including the old gold-mining town of Rockerville, South Dakota, which is contained entirely in the median of US 16. In Rapid City, US 16 follows Mount Rushmore Road to a concurrency with SD 44 (Omaha Street) to the southern terminus of I-190. US 16 stays concurrent with I-190 until both highways end at I-90.

This section of US 16 is defined at South Dakota Codified Laws § 31-4-138.^[3]

History[]

US 16 formerly ran all the way across the state, to the Minnesota state line east of Sioux Falls. It entered the state on the current routing of US 14/I-90 (the current routing is former US 216), and followed the US 14 routing to Rapid City. It joined U.S. Route 216 in Rapid City, and continued east into Box Elder. "Highway 14-16," as it was known, was a divided highway through most of Box Elder before returning to a two-lane road. (This road is still in use today, and still referred to as "14-16.") US 16 traveled east to New Underwood, then continued through the foothills to Wasta. The highway ran north of Wasta, across the Cheyenne River, then ran southeast to Wall. In Wall, an alternate route of US 16 (present day SD 240) split from the highway and headed south, through the Badlands National Monument (now Badlands National Park). US 14 and US 16 split south of Philip, with US 14 travelling due east and US 16 continuing south (following present-day SD 73 to its intersection with the eastern end of US 16 Alternate. From there, US 16 traveled due east, on the present-day routing of South Dakota Highway 248. The highway followed this routing through Kadoka, Murdo, and Vivian, where it intersected U.S. Route 83. The highway continued east to Reliance, where present-day SD 248 ends. US 16 then returned to the current routing of I-90, and followed this routing to Oacoma, where it followed the current I-90 Business Loop to a bridge over the Missouri River into Chamberlain. East of Chamberlain, US 16 followed present day Old Airport Road to East King Street, then turned onto 249th Street just north of where I-90 now lies. It followed 249th Street to Pukwana, present-day 350th Avenue to an intersection with SD 47 (now SD 50), 251st Street to Kimball, and 252nd Street to White Lake. US 16 then followed present-day County Road 34 (also named Old Highway 16) to Mount Vernon and present-day 254th Street to Mitchell. It then followed what is now SD 38 east to 421st Avenue, 421st Avenue to Alexandria, SD 262 to Bridgewater, and SD 42 to Sioux Falls. The highway followed Minnesota Avenue (SD 115), 6th Street, Sycamore Avenue, Madison Street, and Splitrock Boulevard (SD 11) to Brandon. It then followed present-day Aspen Boulevard from Brandon east to the Minnesota state line north of Valley Springs.

Map

Major intersections[]

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Custer	​	0.00	0.00	US 16 west – Newcastle	Continuation into Wyoming
	Custer	26.46	42.58	US 385 south / SD 89 south – Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs	Western end of US 385 and SD 89 concurrencies
		26.96	43.39	US 16A east / SD 89 north – Custer State Park	Eastern end of SD 89 concurrency
Pennington	​	37.49	60.33	SD 87 south (Needles Highway) – Sylvan Lake, Custer
	​	37.69	60.66	SD 244 east – Mount Rushmore
	Hill City	40.51	65.19	US 16 Truck east / US 385 Truck north
		41.06	66.08	US 16 Truck west / US 385 Truck south
	​	45.00	72.42	US 385 north – Deadwood, Lead	Eastern end of US 385 concurrency, also known as Three Forks
	​	50.60	81.43	US 16A west – Keystone, Mount Rushmore	Directional-T interchange, also known as the Keystone Wye
	​			Rockerville	Interchange; left exits and entrances
	Rapid City	64.19	103.30	US 16 Truck – I-90
				I-90 BL east (St. Joseph Street)	One way eastbound only
				I-90 BL west (Main Street)	One way westbound only
				SD 44 east (Omaha Street)	Western end of SD 44 concurrency
				I-190 north / SD 44 east (Omaha Street)	Eastern end of SD 44 concurrency; western end of I-190 concurrency; southern terminus of I-190
		69.00	111.04	I-90 / I-190 ends	Eastern terminus; eastern end of I-190 concurrency; northern terminus of I-190; trumpet interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Related routes[]

Special routes of US 16 in South Dakota consist of an alternate route that runs from Custer to near Keystone as well as truck routes in Hill City and Rapid City, and formerly included a business route in Rapid City and an alternate route between Wall and Kadoka.

South Dakota Highway 248[]

South Dakota Highway 248 (SD 248) is a state highway in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The highway travels parallel to Interstate 90 (I-90) less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away from it. It travels through Lyman, Jones, and Jackson counties starting near the entrance to Badlands National Park at an intersection with SD 240 (just south of exit 131 on I-90) and terminating at exit 248 of I-90 east of Reliance. SD 248 is a former routing of US 16.

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Jackson	​	0.0	0.0	SD 240 (Badlands Loop) to I-90 – Interior, Badlands National Park	Western terminus
	​	11.9	19.2	To I-90 / SD 73 – Philip, Wall, Badlands, Kadoka	I-90 exit 143
	Kadoka	18.9	30.4	I-90 BL west to SD 73 / I-90 – Martin	Western end of BL 90 concurrency
	​	21.1	34.0	I-90 BL east to CR 4 north / I-90 – Wall, Badlands, Belvidere	I-90 exit 152; eastern end of BL 90 concurrency
	Belvidere	31.8	51.2	SD 63 (Main Street) to I-90 – Belvidere, Norris
	​	39.2	63.1	To I-90 / SD 63 – Murdo, Belvidere, Midland	I-90 exit 170
	Stamford	41.2	66.3	Stamford Road to I-90 – Murdo, Belvidere	I-90 exit 172
Jones	​	46.4	74.7	To I-90 – Murdo, Belvidere	Unnamed gravel road; leads to I-90 exit 177
	Okaton	52.2	84.0	262nd Avenue to I-90 – Murdo, Belvidere	I-90 exit 183
	​	60.1– 60.3	96.7– 97.0	I-90 – Belvidere, Draper I-90 BL begins	I-90 exit 191; western end of BL 90 concurrency
	Murdo	61.7	99.3	I-90 BL east to I-90 / US 83 – White River	Eastern end of BL 90 concurrency
	Draper	70.2	113.0	To I-90 (CR N13)
	​	77.3	124.4	To I-90 (CR S10)
Lyman	Vivian	81.8	131.6	US 83 – Fort Pierre, Pierre
		83.4	134.2	293rd Avenue to I-90	Former BL 90
	​	89.7– 90.0	144.4– 144.8	300th Avenue to I-90 – Presho, Draper	I-90 exit 220
	Presho	94.8	152.6	I-90 BL west (305th Avenue) to I-90	Western end of BL 90 concurrency
	​	95.8	154.2	I-90 BL east (Willow Street) to I-90 / US 183 south – Winner, Vivian, Kennebec	Eastern end of BL 90 concurrency; I-90 exit 226
	Kennebec	104.8	168.7	SD 273 to I-90 / SD 1806 – Kennebec	Serves as a southern continuation of SD 1806
	Lyman	111.3	179.1	321st Avenue to I-90
	Reliance	116.5	187.5	SD 47 – Highmore, Fort Thompson, Gregory, Winner	SD 248 runs along former US 16 until this point
		117.1	188.5	I-90 – Chamberlain, Kennebec	Eastern terminus; I-90 exit 248
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References[]

External links[]

Route map:

• 1949 South Dakota Transportation Map