Action Line



***image1***With much of the base road construction now finished, we have seen a great improvement in the flow of traffic on and off base as well as to and from various points on base. The exit out the east gate in the
evening is a dream compared to the old days, mainly due to the closure
of the north end of Lawn Avenue. However, there are a few residual
changes that need to be evaluated. Get rid of the four-way stop at the
corner of Harmon and Lawn avenues; change the priority road to curve
around from Harmon to the south part of Lawn. The four-way stop was put
up when the Harmon Gate was being used during the east gate renovation.
It made sense given the total amount of traffic and the directions to
which it needed to flow.  But now the bulk of the traffic flow
from Harmon on to the south part of Lawn or back the other way. Get rid
of the directional arrows on the north/south road (I think it is
Lincoln) that intersects Kisling Avenue at the stoplight near U.S. Air
Forces in Europe headquarters and the base exchange parking lot. Why do
we want to route traffic that is really destined to go out the east
gate to the south side of base or traffic that is destined for the west
gate to be routed to the north side of base?  Again, these signs
are holdovers from changes in traffic flows that were necessary to
accommodate construction like the east gate renovation and the removal
of the old overpass and the construction of the new traffic circle. But
these signs serve no purpose now and impede more than help the traffic
flows.

Our civil engineers assessed your proposal to change traffic flow at
the intersections of Harmon/Lawn and Kisling/Lincoln. On a trial basis,
they will implement your recommendation to replace the four-way
intersection at Harmon and Lawn with a priority road turn. Traffic
traveling north on Lawn will have priority to turn left onto Harmon and
eastbound traffic on Harmon will have priority to turn right onto lawn.
Traffic traveling west on Harmon (from the Law Center, South Fitness
Center, HAWC, etc.) will have to yield to priority traffic when they
reach the Doner Kebab intersection. Our civil engineers will plan the
work and order the appropriate signage throughout the next few weeks.
We will advertise the traffic pattern changes before implementation in
January. If this test does not work, we will program a construction
project to convert the intersection with a mini-roundabout. At the
Kisling and Lincoln intersection the civil engineers will restore
protected left hand turns to north and southbound traffic lanes. As
always, we will advertise the changes for all those who transit the
area. Thanks for your keen observations and interest in making Ramstein
and even better place to work and live.