Vandenberg to open Titan Gate

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Rojek
  • 30th Space Wing Public Affairs
Vandenberg will open the Titan Gate from 6:30 - 8 a.m. Mondays through Fridays starting Feb. 1.

Base personnel who reside in Santa Maria are encouraged to use this gate during their morning commute.

Wing leadership will evaluate the effect on traffic to determine whether or not this will be a permanent solution.

"We're going to do this for two weeks as a test period," said Col. Rick Wright, the 30th Mission Support Group commander. "(Vandenberg's) traffic engineers have been taking surveys and tracking the time it takes people to get through the gate. If we see the time decrease enough at the Santa Maria Gate because we opened the Titan Gate, we'll keep it open."

Leadership will also place additional manning at the Santa Maria Gate during the morning commute. The augmentees working at both the Santa Maria Gate and the Titan Gate will come from different units around Vandenberg.

"The base populace needs to understand this is going to be a team effort putting the augmentees out there," Colonel Wright said. "In order to expedite everyone through the gates so we're not waiting in traffic, we're going to need support from the organizations that supply augmentees to make sure we have that manpower in place."

Wing leadership is encouraging Lompoc residents to use the Solvang Gate to enter the base. Lompoc and Vandenberg Village residents are also reminded that the California Department of Transportation has started work on Highway 1 from Constellation Road to Timber Lane and will close the left lane in both north- and southbound directions through June.

These changes are part of the 30th Space Wing's ongoing evaluation of the traffic situation and possible solutions.