Highway ditches closed to off-road vehicles

Written by Rapid City Journal

Friday, February 26, 2010

Damage caused by off-road vehicles in the Northern and Central Black Hills has closed parts of ditches along highways.

Two stretches of ditches -- one section on U.S. Highway 16 west of Custer and another on U.S. Highway 385 south of Deadwood -- have been closed after off-road vehicles damaged vegetation and caused erosion.

The segment being closed on Highway 16 is from mile marker 22.3 to mile marker 24.4, and on Highway 385 from mile marker 113.2 to mile marker 114.1. Signs will be placed in the ditches notifying off-road vehicle users of the closure.

The closures, initiated by local requests, were enacted Friday by the South Dakota Department of Transportation.

Ditch closures do not apply to snowmobiles, off-road vehicles used in normal agricultural operations and utility company service vehicles used in the line of duty

Source: http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_36e9397a-22ec-11df-8efa-001cc4c03286.html

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“During the past decade, I have personally had six out of seven elk hunts ruined by the careless intrusions of ATV operators. This epidemic has forced me to abandon one prime hunting area after another, only to encounter the same situation elsewhere. The shameful part of this picture is that the overwhelming majority of these ATV’ers are young and healthy, not decrepit or physically challenged. Maybe these riders would be more respectful of other people's outdoor experience if they knew we could ID them."

- Bill Sustrich, Colorado Backcountry Hunters and Anglers