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Commander's Direct Line

  • Published
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The following is a question to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing Commander submitted by a member of Team Fairchild or the local community: 

Question: I have a concern about the increased waiting time at the front gate for members transiting to base between 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Over the past two weeks I have seen my commute time more than double due to the traffic at the gate. It has become the topic of frustration among my office mates every morning. 

Answer: Thank you for voicing your concern. The defenders working at the installation's entry control points are equally concerned about wait times at Fairchild. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning of last week, there was a slight spike in the wait time to enter the base. Installation entry controllers have reported an increase in the number of personnel arriving between 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. There has also been an observed tendency for vehicles coming off of Highway 2 (from Reardon, Wash.) to make the right-hand turn onto base despite the 'no turn on red' prohibition. This creates an unsafe situation whereby vehicles attempting to execute their left turn onto base from Highway 2 (from Spokane, Wash.) don't have sufficient space to enter during the timed green light cycle and are often stuck in the middle of the intersection, forcing all traffic to come to a complete stop. 

On Monday specifically, there was an increased period of congestion at around 7:20 a.m. when a large broken down truck in the lane to the far right had to be manually pushed out of the way by several other drivers. This backed up traffic for 20 - 25 minutes while the heavy vehicle was safely moved out of the way. 

The 92nd Security Forces Squadron will closely monitor the inbound traffic during peak hours to look for trends and recurring problems that are causing delays. If they identify delays caused in tactics, techniques or procedures on their part, they will rectify those internally. If delays continue based on off-base traffic patterns and flow, security forces will contact the Washington State Patrol to properly manage those issues. 

Key members of the Fairchild Team are currently meeting via a tiger team to examine traffic flow and patterns, and possible alternatives for base entry. After exploring several options, the team will present the installation commander with several courses of action, to include the possibility of opening another base entry point at some point in the future. 

We apologize for periods of increased entry wait times and are doing everything we can to make the daily commute for Fairchild's heroes as pleasant as possible.