VOL. 63 N O. 21
SPACE OBSERVER P E T E R S O N
T H U R S DAY, M AY 23, 2019
A I R
F O R C E
B A S E
East gate changes should reduce risk of collisions
By Griffin Swartzell | SPACE OBSERVER STAFF WRITER PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — The roads outside of the east gate will soon host new traffic patterns, signage and other features designed to make driving safer, as part of a collaboration between the 21st Civil Engineer Squadron and the city of Colorado Springs. “Staff and leadership have received numerous complaints from base personnel and community members about the safety and sharp increase in the number and severity of accidents in that area,” said Glenn Messke, 21st CES base planner. “Peterson Fire and Emergency Services has responded to multiple vehicle accidents at the east gate,” said Ron Meyers, 21st CES assistant fire chief. He provided information about four particular incidents, the most serious of which was a five car/truck accident with eight passengers, four of whom were hospitalized with multiple injuries. Marksheffel Road, the road that accesses the east gate, hosts high-speed through traffic that regularly comes to a stop at the gate. Vehicles regularly back up the southbound right turn lane trying to enter the installation, including commercial vehicles that require additional time at the gate due to required security. The current design forces faster southbound traffic into the left through lane, sometimes with very little time to do so, raising potential for a crash. Due to vehicles turning left into the east gate and vehicles attempting to exit the base onto Marksheffel Road, the current design and operation needed to be evaluated to reduce the high risk of traffic collisions.
To improve safety and reduce future accidents, installation leadership and civil engineering staff are coordinating with Colorado Springs to provide assistance and address proposed improvements designed by the city’s traffic engineers. Messke indicated current options include looking at both interim efforts as well as permanent solutions to mitigate conditions as soon as possible. Planned interim efforts include reducing the speed limit along Marksheffel Road, improving signage indicating the east gate and commercial vehicle entrance, and adding a “gore area” — a marked physical separation — between the southbound through lane and the right turn lane on Marksheffel Road. Messke said the traffic stop bar at the east gate as you exit the installation will be moved farther east toward Marksheffel Road, giving drivers better visibility to see around traffic in the southbound turn lane. The city hopes to have these interim mitigation efforts in place as soon as possible as we approach late spring and experience increased traffic with the upcoming permanent change of station season. As for permanent efforts, the city is in the process of designing a new signalized intersection at the east gate in cooperation with Peterson AFB leadership and staff. That (Courtesy Photo) project, including design and PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — To improve safety and reduce future accidents on Marksheffel Road, installation leadership and funding, will be a joint effort civil engineering staff are coordinating with Colorado Springs to provide assistance and address proposed improvements designed by between Colorado Springs and the city’s traffic engineers. A gore area dividing the turn and through lanes on southbound Marksheffel Road will help address visibility the Air Force. issues outside of the east gate.
Replacing power components keeps early warning radar online
By Benjamin Newell | 66TH AIR BASE GROUP PUBLIC AFFAIRS
(U.S. Air Force photo)
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. — The 6th Space Warning Squadron, located at Cape Cod Air Force Station, Mass., operates a Pave PAWS early warning radar. This station, along with four others located throughout the Northern Hemisphere, will undergo a power system upgrade orchestrated by Program Executive Office Digital at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.
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POLISHES OFF COMPETITION IN TOASTMASTERS CONTEST PAGE 6
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. — Program Executive Office Digital will save more than $2 million in energy costs annually by replacing radar Sub-Array Power Supplies, or SAPS, with more responsive and reliable models. Digital, which oversees both the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System and PAVE Phase Array Warning System, or BMEWS and PAVE PAWS radars, avoided ‘contract capture’ by working directly with the small business that produces the parts. “This contract is a story of cutting out the middle man,” said David Roy, the PEO Digital program manager at Hanscom who oversees the replacement effort. “We could have worked with the prime contractor, and they could have subcontracted this effort out to the same vendor, but by taking this approach we are directly supporting a small business and getting products faster, and at lower cost.” Roy estimates the program will pay for itself through energy savings within 15 years. The U.S. Air Force will reap an additional $30 million See Replacing power page 5
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WING INCENTIVE AWARD PAGE 11