Construction on SR 444 closure to begin

  • Published
  • By Daryl Mayer
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio --  Construction contracts were issued this week that pave the way forward to close a portion of State Route 444 and join Area A and Kittyhawk.

The portion of the four lane highway, between the Wright-Patt Commissary and the Dayton-Yellow Springs intersection, will close to through traffic 9 October.

Base officials cite this project as one of the biggest security mitigations on the installation. The new gate, which will be located across current State Route 444 at the back of the Commissary, will be better situated to accommodate large volumes of traffic in a way that also improves security for the 27,500 Airmen, civilians and contractors that make Wright-Patt the largest single site employer in the state of Ohio.

"The old Gate 1A was located in a time when a terrorist attack on U.S. soil was beyond comprehension," said Fred Tito, Project Manager. "But we live in a different world today and we have to eliminate security vulnerabilities everywhere we can."

Signs publically announcing the start of construction are slated to appear Monday, July 30.

All told, the work is expected to cost approximately $750,000 to install new fencing, construct an interim gate adjacent to the Commissary, erect security barriers and pave new roadways to facilitate internal traffic flow.

Construction is expected to be complete and the relocated Gate 1A opened in early November.

Management of the construction project will be split between Central NICC JV, LLC., and HCC/DCI JV. It is likely the majority of the construction work will be awarded to local subcontractors, helping to generate economic development for the area.

At a public hearing on 19 July, Ohio Department of Transportation and Fairborn City Officials outlined a plan to re-route SR 444 along Kauffman, Central and Dayton Drive around the backside of the Kittyhawk area. Officials from the Ohio Department of Transportation announced that they would study the effects on local traffic before implementing additional improvements on those roads.