RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Randolph's south gate will reopen to commuter traffic starting Feb. 1.
The gate has been closed to privately owned vehicle traffic since late November - but open to commercial vehicles - because of a stimulus project to reconstruct the entry road off Lower Seguin Road.
"The south gate will be reopened for inbound and outbound POV traffic," said Peggy Hill, 12th Civil Engineer Division project manager. "Construction will not be finished, but the road will be fully accessible. We expect the work to be completed in April."
Ms. Hill said construction will take place only after the morning commute and before the evening commute, or from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. As usual, the south gate will accommodate inbound traffic only from 6-8:30 a.m. and both inbound and outbound vehicles from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The estimated $420,000 project, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, involves reconstruction of the entry road from sub-grade to wearing course. It is expected to improve entry to the south side of Randolph by expanding the road from two to three lanes - one for inbound commercial vehicles, one for inbound POV traffic and one for all outbound traffic. The expansion will allow for outbound traffic anytime the gate is open.
Ms. Hill said "normal" gate hours will resume with the reopening of the south gate, which means the east gate will close at 8 a.m. daily for incoming traffic and will no longer be open in the afternoon for outgoing traffic.
"It is my understanding that we will go back to operations as normal - west, east, main and south gates open for morning commutes; west, main and south gates open for evening commutes; and regular mid-day activities with the west, main and south gates open," she said.
Another project under way at the south gate is the installation of two denial barriers, an antiterrorism initiative funded by the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency. That project should not affect traffic, Ms. Hill said.
She said another stimulus project on base, the reconstruction of H Street, is about two to three weeks from completion.