MITCHELL, SD (Mitchell Now) — Harrisburg officials are asking the state to lower the speed limit on Highway 115 as traffic volumes rise in South Dakota’s fastest-growing city. But so far, the South Dakota Transportation Commission has declined a proposal to reduce the speed from 55 mph to 45 mph.

Harrisburg City Administrator and Engineer Heath VonEye said the concern comes largely from local drivers who use the highway for short, frequent trips within the community.

“It’s really the local traffic that I think feels this impact the most,” VonEye said. “The people that are trying to get across this highway, the people getting onto this highway to drive a couple streets up and then turn off of it again. It’s that local traffic generation and movements that are feeling unsafe the most.”

Highway 115 has seen numerous crashes in recent years, particularly near Harrisburg High School. State traffic engineers, however, have told the city that lowering the speed limit could increase risk by creating larger speed differences between local and through-traffic.

To improve safety in the meantime, the state is extending a left-turn lane in the high-traffic stretch near the school.