Sturgis 75th!!!!
- Thread starter IEFVet
- Start date
Chopperman
Member
Planning on the ride on Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing a group of dogs going down the road.
liferider
Looking forward to retirement
34 wrecks at Sturgis as of this morning. So far no deaths.
Risk of Rally Traffic Fatalies Rises Along With Numbers
July 31, 2015, 10:00 PM by Kevin Woster
4
STURGIS, SD -
As bikers rumble into the Black Hills for the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, state troopers have been responding to heavier traffic flows and increased accidents. By Friday afternoon, there hadn’t been a fatality, but if rally history is any guide, that good luck was unlikely to last.
With attendance for the anniversary rally projected to be from 800,000 to 1.2 million, riders are revved up for the official opening on Monday.
And for most it will be a noisy good time. A few, however, could be making their last ride.
Four people died in rally related crashes last year, and six died the year before.
It’s not something Sturgis public information officer Christina Steele likes to talk about, but it’s a reality of the big biker event that can't be avoided.
"We hope not to see a lot of fatalities, but we know there will be some," Steele says. "Traffic will be so congested."
It’s especially congested in and near Sturgis, of course. And that’s where state Transportation Department officials focus their traffic management. Since Wednesday, two days earlier than normal because of the expected increase in attendance, the crew has watched and when necessary adjusted lights at interstate exits and key intersections from a command center in Sturgis.
The idea is to keep traffic from backing up onto I-90 and reduce snarls elsewhere.
On exits 30 and 32 in Sturgis, the adjustments are made from the control room.
“We can actually sit here and run the traffic signal, to add more green time and do it live, for the two interstate exits,” regional traffic engineer Monica Heller said. “The other signals, most of the other signals on Lazelle Street, we can change the timing but it’s not immediate. We can’t run the red, yellow, green, but we do have people sitting on those intersections at the busiest times of the day who can actually run those signals if needed.”
Other traffic-control measures include radar sensors that detect slowing traffic and flash warnings to drivers far behind the snarl and reduced-speed zones – especially the expansion of the 65-mph zone on Interstate 90 all the way Sturgis to Rapid City.
Compliance on that has been good, said Capt. Kevin Karley of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.
“It took a couple of days for people to adjust to it, but I think for the most part now people are complying with that,” he said.
Heller sees more cars in the traffic flow, likely because of rally attendance estimates up to one million.
"I think we are getting people who may not even be motorcycle riders who just think, oh, wow, it would be cool to see a million bikes," she said.
If not a million at once, they'll see plenty, but spread out over a longer rally period and throughout the Black Hills.
Most of the congestion is in and near Sturgis or other Black Hills towns, but bikers face potentially deadly danger on roads throughout the Black Hills. The highways are beautiful and windy, but also dangerous.
Karley said the 18 injury accidents and 16 non-injury accidents as of Friday are above normal, and typically spread out.
"For the last probably 10 years, we've seen the rally more spread out, over the hills," he said. "And we've had to station more troopers not just in Sturgis but in all the Black Hills."
So far, they haven't had to handle a fatality. But the best of the rally and the worst crashes are yet to come.
Karley said the risk of a fatal accident is reduced if bikers and other drivers slow down, keep a safe distance between vehicles and be especially careful making turns or changing lanes. And, of course, drive sober.
© 2015 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.
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07/31/15 - Hartford Teen A Rodeo Rising Star
Risk of Rally Traffic Fatalies Rises Along With Numbers
July 31, 2015, 10:00 PM by Kevin Woster
4
STURGIS, SD -
As bikers rumble into the Black Hills for the 75th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, state troopers have been responding to heavier traffic flows and increased accidents. By Friday afternoon, there hadn’t been a fatality, but if rally history is any guide, that good luck was unlikely to last.
With attendance for the anniversary rally projected to be from 800,000 to 1.2 million, riders are revved up for the official opening on Monday.
And for most it will be a noisy good time. A few, however, could be making their last ride.
Four people died in rally related crashes last year, and six died the year before.
It’s not something Sturgis public information officer Christina Steele likes to talk about, but it’s a reality of the big biker event that can't be avoided.
"We hope not to see a lot of fatalities, but we know there will be some," Steele says. "Traffic will be so congested."
It’s especially congested in and near Sturgis, of course. And that’s where state Transportation Department officials focus their traffic management. Since Wednesday, two days earlier than normal because of the expected increase in attendance, the crew has watched and when necessary adjusted lights at interstate exits and key intersections from a command center in Sturgis.
The idea is to keep traffic from backing up onto I-90 and reduce snarls elsewhere.
On exits 30 and 32 in Sturgis, the adjustments are made from the control room.
“We can actually sit here and run the traffic signal, to add more green time and do it live, for the two interstate exits,” regional traffic engineer Monica Heller said. “The other signals, most of the other signals on Lazelle Street, we can change the timing but it’s not immediate. We can’t run the red, yellow, green, but we do have people sitting on those intersections at the busiest times of the day who can actually run those signals if needed.”
Other traffic-control measures include radar sensors that detect slowing traffic and flash warnings to drivers far behind the snarl and reduced-speed zones – especially the expansion of the 65-mph zone on Interstate 90 all the way Sturgis to Rapid City.
Compliance on that has been good, said Capt. Kevin Karley of the South Dakota Highway Patrol.
“It took a couple of days for people to adjust to it, but I think for the most part now people are complying with that,” he said.
Heller sees more cars in the traffic flow, likely because of rally attendance estimates up to one million.
"I think we are getting people who may not even be motorcycle riders who just think, oh, wow, it would be cool to see a million bikes," she said.
If not a million at once, they'll see plenty, but spread out over a longer rally period and throughout the Black Hills.
Most of the congestion is in and near Sturgis or other Black Hills towns, but bikers face potentially deadly danger on roads throughout the Black Hills. The highways are beautiful and windy, but also dangerous.
Karley said the 18 injury accidents and 16 non-injury accidents as of Friday are above normal, and typically spread out.
"For the last probably 10 years, we've seen the rally more spread out, over the hills," he said. "And we've had to station more troopers not just in Sturgis but in all the Black Hills."
So far, they haven't had to handle a fatality. But the best of the rally and the worst crashes are yet to come.
Karley said the risk of a fatal accident is reduced if bikers and other drivers slow down, keep a safe distance between vehicles and be especially careful making turns or changing lanes. And, of course, drive sober.
© 2015 KELOLAND TV. All Rights Reserved.
PREVIOUS STORY
07/31/15 - Sioux Empire Fair A Chance To Shine For 4-H Kids
NEXT STORY
07/31/15 - Hartford Teen A Rodeo Rising Star
liferider
Looking forward to retirement
You caught that too!
liferider
Looking forward to retirement
Nothing like abusing your bike, shreading a tire potentially busting your motorcycle and adding unwanted pollution in the atmosphere....but you've had lots of liquor and you da'man!
mastiffdave
Well-Known Member
A little Sturgis report sorry no pics yet. We've been here 3 days and so far it's just a little bit busier down town than last year and the numbers were way down last year . The last two nights there were parking spaces on main about any where you wanted to go, and last yr we parked on main every night for a week straight. On the way up , we saw just as many trailers and bikes leaving as there were coming in , seem a lot more came early this year.The wrecks and the law are way more common than in past years, geeze I've lost count already at the wrecks we been caught in and the police seem on a mission to see who can write the most tickets. Afer all these years they finally threw away the Handel bar height law, no more restriction on apes in SD but Wyoming will still hammer ya.Anyway so far it's not been the locked up mess that we were expecting and should have a nice time on the group ride.
See everyone at 10 at the #10.
See everyone at 10 at the #10.
