Closure scheduled for Litchfiled Road

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Stephen Delgado
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  It's hard not to notice all the construction on Litchfield Road when coming to Luke. The construction is to build an overpass over Litchfield Road to unify the base. This project will be intensifying with two road closures scheduled for Thursday to Aug. 26 and again about 4-6 weeks later, according to Zane Hoit, 56th Civil Engineer-Architect team leader. 

The overpass is scheduled to be completed by mid January 2008 and will make it more convenient for base personnel to get from one side of the base to the other. 

"Luke members will no longer have to leave one part of the base and show an identification card to get to the other part of the base," Mr. Hoit said. 

Next week southbound drivers on Litchfield Road will start to see detour signs just north of Northern Avenue and northbound drivers will see the warning signs at Glendale Avenue. 

"Litchfield Road will be completely closed to all traffic north of the strip mall," Mr. Hoit said. "There will be signs directing drivers to the streets they can use to get around the closure. There will be no restrictions on Glendale Avenue." 

The August closure is because the bridge girders will be set, and the next closure will be so the concrete can be poured over the girders. All gates will remain open during the road closures. Emergency services will have access and be able to meet all mutual aid support agreement services. 

The completion of the new overpass will mark the finishing point of numerous changes made in response to the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001. "The base was wide open before then," Mr. Hoit said. "There were very few fences and nine gates. Today there are four gates and more fencing." 

When the gates were decreased to four, the traffic congestion created a nightmare, he remembered. 

In all, Hoit said the overpass will be a benefit to the base, as well as the community. 

"As with any massive project, the inconvenience and burdensome traffic will be replaced by something of which everyone can be proud."