Construction begins on Tulley, Pence gates

In an effort to improve capacity and enhance force protection, both Tulley and Pence gates will undergo a renovation upgrade project for their respective access control points.

Initial planning has been completed and the first stages of construction have begun.

"The gate renovations are mostly due to the infrastructure improvements the post is implementing to handle the influx of new personnel being realigned to Fort Belvoir due to 2005 Base Realignment and Closure legislation," said Travis Edwards, the post's BRAC outreach chief. "Other planned improvements to the gates are being
integrated into the projects to ensure the process is streamlined."

The projects will continue from now through mid-summer. At that time, Tulley Gate will receive an additional upgrade as Pohick Road is expanded from U.S. Route 1 to Gunston Road.

"The installation is working hard to coordinate and integrate several different projects into one to reduce lost time, lower costs, and reduce impacts to [our] residents, the Mount Vernon community, and post employees," Edwards said.

The project will reduce the amount of congestion at the gate and on Pohick and Belvoir roads during peak traffic hours.

Currently, during the morning peak traffic hours, motorists using Tulley Gate face back ups of several hundred feet, which overflows onto Route 1, depending on the
traffic volume and the occurrence of incidents such as 'fender benders' or 'stalled vehicles.'

According to data compiled by the installation's Traffic Coordination and Management Planning Working Group, between 6:30 and 9 a.m., Tulley Gate processes more than 300 vehicles every 15 minutes. The current capacity of Tulley Gate is approximately 260 cars every 15 minutes.

"The renovations taking place will fix this shortfall and help to bring the capacity up to meet the current demand," said Edwards. "In addition, post leadership is working with our new traffic demand management coordinator to create plans and policies to help reduce the numbers of single-occupancy vehicle traffic at the gates.

Add these initiatives together and we'll be well on the way to handling the traffic demands placed on the access control points."

The gates will be improved in three different phases during construction. First, an additional booth will be added to the access control point, giving Tulley Gate four booths and Pence Gate three.

Secondly, existing booths will then be upgraded one at a time. These upgrades include installing an automated installation entry capability, which is similar to the EZ Pass system, except employees use their Common Access Card in conjunction with Radio Frequency Identification tag decals.

All the access points on post will have the AIE capability sometime over the next two years in preparation for DoD to launch the program.