Action Line: Delays and bottleneck at Gate 1

  • Published
  • By Col Robert G. Novotny
  • 48th Fighter Wing commander
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  

COMPLAINT:

There are many people concerned with the amount of time it takes to exit the main gate at the end of the day (Sometimes 20 minutes). The traffic lights need to be adjusted back to the way they were before the construction. It seems like they are stuck on a timer and not using the traffic sensors for control. This means cars are just sitting there waiting to exit with no cross traffic.

This is what is causing the bottleneck.


RESPONSE:

I completely understand your concern with the current wait times our community is experiencing upon exiting the base in the evenings. I can assure you that it's  a high priority and that our civil engineers have been tracking this issue closely. They are actively engaged with the local authority responsible for the traffic light controls on the A1065. 

The current delays at Gate 1 are due to failure in the traffic light road sensors, which were damaged when the A1065 was resurfaced.  The Suffolk County Council is responsible for these traffic lights, and they're planning to replace the defective equipment the week of 22 Feb. Once completed, traffic light timing will be reprogrammed to settings which should resolve delays and see traffic patterns return to normal. 

As an interim measure to alleviate congestion on the installation, our civil engineers will be adjusting the light at Gate 2 this weekend,
22-24 Jan, to facilitate better traffic flow during peak times.

Thank you for highlighting this issue, and we look forward to getting things moving smoothly again.

Col Novotny

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

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