Rapid City Journal from Rapid City, South Dakota • 55

Rapid City Journal Business Business World, F2 Mutual funds, F4 Sunday July 16, 2000 pernio It, 4 'W WH'jituui 1 ijju y.u i i na.m iiu.ua mm, iwum fm m. li i-ii ir Work to rebuild two of Rapid City's busiest Interstate 90 exits is proceeding more or less on schedule. In this photo, bridge decks are in place Don PolovichJournal staff Btisiiniesses cope with coestrmction Across the Board Keep the government out of my retirement Talk about prescience and good planning. I'm so proud of myself. Why? Well.

guess I didn't realize It at the time, but during the year I served as a Marine In Vietnam I actually was putting away a little something for my retirement. Sound loopy? You'd think so, but after checking out the Social Security re-cap of my earnings history that came In the mall the other day, I noticed that the $1,692 1 received from Uncle Sam (not bad when you consider that I also got food, a place to sleep and plenty of fresh air and exercise strolling around the DMZ and sprinting like a jackrabblt every time I heard the word was regarded as Social Security Medicare wages, and had all the appropriate deductions taken out of it. I wonder If the actuaries of that era factored In the possibility of my death In combat when they crunched the income and expense statements for the Social Security Admin-. lstratlon that year. Such a deal I would have been if I'd come home In a body bag.

Fortunately, I came home intact, and I intend to live long enough to be part of the bad deal that Social Security will become when my generation starts cashing In. Why such a bad deal? Well. we all know about the coming crunch in the ratio of retirees to workers. But to my way of thinking, the deal Is much worse than that: I did my best to calculate the return I expect to get on the contributions I've been making into the system since 1965, and believe me, it's enough to make a grown man weep. Sob.

I'm tempted to join the legions of fellow fiscal conservatives who want to privatize at least part of the system so that workers have a fighting chance at getting market-based returns Instead of the measly 1 percent or 2 percent that Social Security yields now. That route is getting more and more popular, so much so that Republican presidential aspirant George W. Bush proposed a program allowing workers to set aside a sixth of their SSA contributions for retirement programs (managed by the federal government) that they themselves would direct. That notion, Instead of Incurring dismayed gasps among both GOP and Democratic political pros, was met with a mixture of enthusiasm and resignation. Bush's confederates Including his chums on Wall Street who will hit the jackpot when those billions go Into securities are cheering.

The noise Is so deafening that it compelled Bush's principal rival, Democrat Al Gore, to come up with a counterplan that will get the government to match Individual retirement contributions on a 3-for-l basis. No doubt a major change in the system is about to occur, if only because nowadays so many millions of Americans are financially sophisticated enough to understand the raw financial deal that they get by Investing In the Social Security system as It is. I sympathize, but I do not concur. Why? Because under both proposals, the federal government's Involvement in the pension plan industry would grow into something too big to suit me. Bush's plan is especially unnerving because it would essentially create a federal See Mrlta, Page F2 1 job of getting the word out.

This Is the first time South Dakota built an Internet Web site exclusively for one highway project. "I think that when you're Informed about the process, and where things are at, It's a whole lot easier to understand and take a few extra minutes If necessary. I think they've worked very hard to accommodate the traffic flow," she said. Some Haines Avenue merchants, particularly those just south of 1-90, have been critical of the construction. Their communication to the neighbors around here has been dismal," said Tom Anderson, owner of Sound Bytes Music Video.

Anderson said crews closed his Haines Avenue driveway without warning and kept It closed for 10 days. "I could have had a huge (sales) promotion planned for seeing fewer ot his customers that ar-f rive via Interstate 90, especially people from Black Hawk and the North-; era Hills. He believes that is because some of the Haines Av-i" enue ramps have been closed at various times, and they don't want hassle getting on and off the freeway. Also, he thinks some Rapid City people may be staying away because they think the construction is worse than it really is. Haines south of the interstate has been largely unaffected by construction, he noted.

The closed driveway aside, Sound Bytes has been holding Its own in terms of sales and revenue. Anderson also Is concerned that when the new interchange Is finished, traffic will move so fast and so continuously down Haines Avenue that his customers will have trouble getting In and out of the Sound Bytes parking lot. Horan said there have been occasional communications lapses between the state, the city, the contractors doing the various projects and the businesses affected. He said the Sound Bytes' driveway might have been closed by a crew replacing underground utilities along Haines Avenue. See Helces, Page F2 f.

Change! to Exit 57 WtrtBlvd 1-190 HJf XX Tn Be Remared PmI C5MjJ By Dan Daiy Journal Staff Writer Crews rebuilding Interstate 90 through Raid City were a bit behind In reopening the Rapid City Haines Avenue exit ramp. However, the Exit 58 eastbound ramp is open In plenty of time for the Sturgls Rally, and the overall project Is on schedule. That's the good news. The bad news is the orange-coned obstacle course will be with us for some time. For a lot of Rapid City businesses, 1-90 is their financial lifeline.

They are hanging on despite the disruption. They give the project mixed reviews. Tom Horan, engineering supervisor with the South Dakota Department of Transportation, said phase 1-B opening the east-bound 1-90 exit ROAD at Dom names Avenue (foreground) and Interstate 190 (background). Also, i the newly poured traffic EM8 lanfis at the left show the Jrt-JQi new nath wfisthni inrt traf- JKJ I rj.a Will ldlc. ready for rally Avenue have been working nights and weekends to finish on time.

The rally notwithstanding, construction-weary Sturgls will be happy to see the project finished. The first phase began In 1998. Matthesen said, and the current work has been going on since February of this year. Few people are more construction-weary than Dan Johnston. Between his Pine Street home and his Hardware Hank store on Junction Avenue, he's been working around construction work for most of 2000, Although the Junction Avenue project has been a pain In the neck for customers, Johnston Bald It hasn't done much harm to the hardware store's revenue.

Customers who need hardware seek out the store. "We hear them complulnlng, but they're willing to come out and do business with us," Johnston said. Other Sturgls area projects, See Rslly, Page F2 ramp at Haines and clo8inffhalf Department of Transportation This aerial photo shows how 1-90 and 1-190 will intersect when the Exit 57 project is finished. No longer will the westbound traffic take a wide, sweeping curve to the right. Also, westbound cars will no longer exit on the left.

GOKsnujcnoN' a- 'C Anderson KZStr 1 831(1 he's been of Interstate 190 from Rapid City started about a week late. But he said that does- nt mean the project Is behind schedule, and It doesn't mean it won't finish 4K0NTIIS up on time In November. V-; Heavy Constructors of Rapid City is the contractor on the two-year, two-mile, $18 million protect. The company will completely rebuild Exits 57 and 58. Exit 57 will no longer have the left-hand off-ramps and on-ramps.

(See aerial photo.) Tourists and locals alike loathed the old ramps. The new Exit 58 bridges will allow six lanes of Haines Avenue traffic to pass underneath the interstate, instead of three lanes. The south bridge Is being built this year. Next summer, the north bridge will be replaced. Some retailers said the state DOT has done a good lob of keeping them informed about the project Karen Waltman, general manager of Rush-more Mall, said the engineers and other officials met with mall retailers early on to explain the process and go over the schedule.

They've made a very diligent effort to keep things free-flowing and moving." she said, referring to the DOT and the contractor. "I think they've done a great lob." She said the project's Web site www.rcexlts.com has done a good Junction to be By Dm Daiy Journal Staff Writer Whoever decided to hold the annual Sturgls Motorcycle Rally the ilrst week In August certainly wasn't a highway-construction plan ner. The timing of It is about the worst you could have for highway construction," said John Matthesen, engineering supervisor for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. "A lot of Jobs we Just completely shut down, but there Is going to be some work going." The good news, however, is that the Junction Avenue reconstruction project will be done the last week In July, well ahead of the Aug. 7-13 Sturgls rally, Matthesen said.

Junction Avenue runs from Interstate 90 to Main Street in Sturgls. It's the highway to heaven for the 300.000 or so motorcycle enthusiasts who will descend on Sturgls. Construction crews on Junction Tall fc-w tL44 Bvt UM 7L mmcMwm mMB r.rK fWHt..