Cheyenne River receives funding to fix some roads damaged in the recent flooding

EAGLE BUTTE — The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has just milled more than five (5) miles of damaged road along BIA route 3 using some of the $ 300,000.00 dollars the Bureau of Indian Affairs has provided.
Last month Area Director Timothy LaPointe accompanied Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Chairman Harold C. Frazier on a tour of the roads damaged by the continuing flooding that has wreaked havoc on the Cheyenne River Agency this year. During the trip Chairman Frazier was able to show Area Director LaPointe the roads, culverts and bridges that all sustained damages and the bypasses that have been constructed in some of the instances to allow travel.
Many of the roads still remain impassable due to washed out roads caused by culvert failures. While the Area Director spent most of the day surveying the damages with the Chairman they were not able to travel to all the areas affected along the Cheyenne River Valley or some areas of southeastern reservation. After viewing the areas, the Area Director responded quickly to the Chairman by providing immediate funding to help make some of the areas safe to drive.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has the damaged areas listed as critical infrastructure damaged during the declared emergencies and are still waiting to hear if the damaged roads have been approved to be repaired. The funding provided by the BIA Regional office will help in those areas that have not been approved for emergency funding from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or Emergency Relief for Federally-owned Roads (ERFO).
Chairman Frazier stated, “I am grateful that Regional Director Tim LaPointe took the time to travel some of these roads so he can see for himself the danger these roads are to travel. This funding will used to make some of the roads safe to travel again. This is just in time at the beginning of the school year when school busses will be traveling on these roads again.”

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