Army social media, DOT travel-conditions website to post advisories of ‘big push for a lot of vehicles’ in March
U.S. Army Alaska is sending convoys of military vehicles over the Parks and Richardson Highways in preparation of a big training exercise to be held next month on ranges around Fort Greely. And Army officials say they’ll let the public know when those long, slow-moving convoys will be on the road.
Convoys of military vehicles already are on the move, hauling equipment and personnel from Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson to Fort Wainwright. And from Wainwright to the Donnelly Training Area, just south of Fort Greely. That’s where a large-scale training exercise involving up to 10,000 military personnel will be conducted from March 9th through the 24th
“There will be convoy traffic leading up to the exercise, and after the exercise, as we get everybody moved back,” says U.S. Army Alaska spokesperson John Pennell.
He says numerous longer convoys will begin traveling south on the Richardson Highway beginning next week. They’ll be dispatched from Fort Wainwright in groups of 10 to 15 vehicles, each traveling 150 feet apart, every 30 minutes or so to keep them spaced-apart. And they’ll be traveling slowly – about 25 miles per hour.
“So from the 7th to about the 14th is going to be the big push for a lot of vehicles,” says Andy Whitish, the safety and risk-management and mitigation adviser for the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division.
Whitish says some of the convoys will only travel to Salcha, then take a turnoff that leads to a training area east of Eielson Air Force Base.
“They’re not all going down to Delta,” he said. “Some of them are just going out to the Yukon Training area down the Johnson Road.”
Pennell says U.S. Army Alaska will try to inform members of the public about when the convoys will be out on the highways with advisories USARAK will post on its Facebook page, and on the Fort Greely Facebook page. And Greely spokesperson Jim Verchio says his installation also will try to keep the public informed.
“Fort Greely will share information as best as we can as the information becomes available” Verchio said.
Also, the state Department of Transportation will include alerts about convoys on its travel-advisory website, 511.alaska.gov.
“So we have an alert that’s on 5-1-1 throughout that whole period of time that they’re going to be on the road,” says department spokesperson Danielle Tessen.
She says the alert now on the site advises motorists that convoys will be traveling on the Parks Highway from JBER to Fort Wainwright through March 4. She says DOT also is helping the Army identify passing areas to enable drivers to get by the convoys and other spots where the soldiers can pull off the road and let the cars go by.
Both Pennell and Whitish say the Army will do everything it can to help the public deal with the long, slow convoys. They urge people to check those information sources and plan their travel accordingly. And if motorists do encounter a convoy, the Army officials urge them to be cautious – and patient.
