Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
In a recent newsletter, Rod "Woody" Woodruff, owner of the Legendary Buffalo Chip Campground, discussed some traffic solutions during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. It appears that the South Dakota Department of Transportation has conducted aerial traffic studies, and has some plans for 2011.
Following is Woody’s Buffalo Chip newsletter:
Howdy. I thought I’d share this with you. It appears the South Dakota Department of Transportation is planning some great things to help our Rally guests. They’d like to eliminate traffic jams!
For years, the SD DOT has recognized that traffic congestion exists in Sturgis during the Rally. Most recently, they have studied aerial photos taken during the 2010 Rally and have been designing ways to minimize the inconvenience that extremely heavy traffic can cause.
The first hard evidence of the State DOT’s commitment to this goal was the fact that the DOT hosted an "open house" to discuss Sturgis traffic remedies on February 28th. City of Sturgis officials, including law enforcement officials, attended and discussed various routes and changes that could be made to keep traffic moving through town to the east (which just happens to be where the Chip is located).
The Chip has also been informally apprised of SD DOT plans to man a stop light at the intersection of Highway 34 and the turn into/out of the Chip. That will undoubtedly make it easier and quicker to get to the Chip to see such acts as Def Leppard, Toby Keith, Alice Cooper, George Thorogood and so many others. Additionally, it’ll insure you have little to no difficulty getting back on the road in the morning, giving you more time to enjoy the Black Hills – the best biking roads in the world.
I’ll keep you posted as I become aware of further developments.
– Woody
