Air Force Academy’s North Gate now closed theough Aug. 2 for roundabout construction
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- It's something most of us haven't seen before and will never see again; even Air Force Academy (AFA) officials said that they can't recall having to close their North Gate for an extended period.
As KRDO 13 first reported last week, the gate will be closed starting Monday and continuing through Aug. 2 -- nearly three weeks.
The closure allows workers to finish construction of a roundabout, or traffic circle, amid the guard station and two major facilities being built -- the new Hotel Polaris and the new Hosmer Visitor Center.
AFA architect Duane Boyle said that the South Gate is open 24 hours, unlike the North Gate that doesn't open until 5:30 a.m. and closes at night.
"Well, we have more gates down there," he said of the South Gate. "We have more lanes coming onto the Academy, so it should handle (additional traffic) fairly well. And, you know, the South Gates are the industrial entrance. The North Gate has always been our main visitor entrance. And so, the traffic at South Gate is usually heavier than the North Gate anyway."
AFA officials said that the South Gate will have four inbound lanes and two outbound lanes, which compares to three and two, respectively, at the North Gate.
The AFA doesn't anticipate serious traffic congestion because the North Gate closure comes before the start of classes at the installation, as well as the start of fall semester for two Academy District 20 schools on campus.
Traffic appeared to flow smoothly Monday morning with all four inbound lanes open; two guards conducted ID checks in each inbound lane to speed up entry.
The busiest time appeared to be between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., when traffic briefly backed up onto the southbound exit ramp of Interstate 25.
"I don't believe the South Gate needs (a roundabout) yet, because we don't have traffic spinning off in any different direction," Boyle explained. "There's either into the Academy or out of the Academy. It's changed at North Gate. It's now that we have traffic going off to the north, traffic going to south, east and west. So, we think the roundabout is the best decision and it does calm things down."
The AFA has had recent experience -- on a smaller scale -- with temporarily closing the North Gate and rerouting traffic through the South Gate; it happened during an emergency following the the hockey game at Falcon Stadium between the Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings.
An estimated 43,000 spectators attended the game, and the death of a man under undisclosed circumstances led officials to close the North Gate as part of the investigation.
