Robins Gate 5 set to reopen Monday Published June 29, 2007 By Holly L. Birchfield 78th ABW/PA Robins AFB, Ga. -- After a one-month closure for a construction project, Gate 5 is set to reopen for base traffic Monday. The gate, also known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard gate to base motorists, received a canopy shelter and a new traffic flow that takes in-coming motorists southward on the base, much like the base's present main gate. Unlike other gates that received similar canopies and adjusted traffic flows however, Gate 5 remained open in the first part of the project earlier this year while crews built the shelter in a nearby area. The gate was to be closed from the end of May to the end of June to allow the structure to be erected. Inclement weather pushed the original reopening date of June 24 back to Monday. Terry Landreth, 778th Civil Engineer Squadron Design Branch chief, said the gate's new configuration will solve a lot of the traffic problems that existed with the former gate setup. "The main problem with Gate 5 was that it was located right at the edge of (Ga. Highway) 247 and there was little room for cars to get in line to have their (base identification cards) checked, which posed a problem with people waiting to get IDs checked actually sticking out into (Ga. Highway) 247," he said. "So, when we constructed the new canopy, it needed to be located in a way that was going to alleviate that traffic problem." Mr. Landreth said the new traffic flow routes motorists southward through a former parking lot to where individuals' ID cards can be checked. He said the traffic pattern is like other base gates that received similarly fashioned canopies and entry ways. Gate 5 isn't the only area where people will notice a traffic flow change due to the construction, Mr. Landreth said. "The traffic pattern on Page Road is going to change," he said. "The people coming from the gate (Gate 5) will have a free left-hand turn and a free right-hand turn on Page Road. People on Page Road will have to stop to permit the traffic at Gate 5 to turn left or right freely." Outbound traffic at the gate will remain the same, with motorists allowed to use the exit from noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The gate is closed on Saturday and Sunday. Those heading outbound from the gate will not be diverted through the new canopy configuration, but will rather take the former path from the base. Tiffany Evans, a civil engineer in the 778th CES Design Branch, said the new setup, the last of its kind at Robins, will make getting to and from the base a little less hectic. "I think they'll be excited about the gate opening," she said. "I think that it will alleviate some of the traffic at the other gates. You'll probably get in much quicker at Gate 5 than you did previously." Shrad Amrit, an architect in the 778th CES Design Branch, said the project was the last of its kind at the base. Other gates like the Main Gate at Watson Boulevard, Gate 14 at Russell Parkway, and Gate 2 at Green Street received canopies and new entry configurations over the past three years.