COMMENTARY>>Commander’s Action Line: Integrity versus speeding in base housing

I have a concern with excessive speeding that has been on-going for a while on Minnesota Circle and Mississippi Loop in housing. Many of us residents have gone as far as to talk to the drivers face-to-face to ask them to slow down because there are a lot of little children who wander into the street. For the most part, many of the drivers have been receptive to this.

Unfortunately, some drivers are not and one became quite verbal. She doesn’t even live in this area. I did file a written complaint with security forces. However, through written complaints, phone calls to security forces, request for the radar speed cart to be posted, nothing seems to be a deterrent. Additionally, there are no speed limit signs posted on Minnesota Circle or Mississippi Loop. Therefore, what measures need to be implemented to have speed limit signs posted on these streets? Can something be done to rectify the situation before it is too late? With school out of session, children are constantly playing in and around the streets. Thank you for your concern in this matter.

ANSWER:

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I believe this boils down to integrity - one of the Air Force’s core values. Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking, such as driving the speed limit in base housing. If you’re running late, the fix isn’t to speed in base housing. The fix is you need to plan better or leave earlier. It’s better to be a little late, than to rush and put others at risk.

You may have noticed that we stepped up patrols in the area, resulting in us issuing a couple of citations. We also placed a speed cart out for about three weeks as a visual reminder for people driving through the area.

Hunt Pinnacle, our housing privatization project owner, will be erecting speed limits signs in the areas you identified. The first will be at the Texas and Minnesota intersection, which will be up soon. Hunt Pinnacle will follow with signs on Minnesota and Missouri in the coming weeks.

As you may know, these signs are in addition to the ones existing at entrances to the base at both the Vandenburg Boulevard and Arnold Drive gates, as well as the one at the intersection of Arnold and Texas. Placing new signs within the housing areas should help improve driver awareness, and assist security forces in enforcing speed limits within housing. Thanks for helping us keep our streets safe.