FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. –
Preliminary work has begun on the first of two planned access control points at Fort Indiantown Gap.
Construction crews recently began staging equipment and installing erosion and sedimentation controls at the future location of the installation’s main gate and visitors center. This begins Stage One of a multi-year, three-staged project to secure the installation by 2024.
“Fort Indiantown Gap is one of the only installations in the Department of Defense without access control points,” said Col. Lane Marshall, garrison commander. “These ACPs will bring us in line with other installations and help us keep our people and property safe and secure.”
The main gate and visitors center will be located on Fisher Avenue near the intersection of Biddle Road. Excavation is scheduled to begin around Dec. 27, and the project is expected to take about a year to complete.
Motorists are advised to be aware of construction vehicles and activity near the intersection.
Stage Two, the east gate construction, is expected to begin in the second half of 2022 and will also take about a year to complete. The east gate will be located on Fisher Avenue near the intersection with Quartermaster Road.
Construction of both gates will result in traffic pattern changes on Fisher Avenue. Public notice will be made when construction will impact traffic patterns.
After both gates are completed, additional installation accessing modifications will be implemented in Stage Three.
“We’re really excited about the changes coming to the installation, and we want to ensure everyone is kept well-informed as we move forward with this project,” Marshall said. “The installation will be accessible moving forward, but the way you access the installation will change.”
The access-control project has been planned for several years. After Sept. 11, 2001, the DoD mandated tighter security at military installations, including access control points. Since then, construction of access control points at Fort Indiantown Gap has been delayed several times.
Currently, security of personnel and equipment is individually handled by the units and organizations that work there, as well as the Fort Indiantown Gap police department.
The gates will not affect access to Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Memorial Lake State Park, Marquette Lake, the Keystone Conference Center or Fort Indiantown Gap’s hunting and fishing areas.
Fort Indiantown Gap encompasses more than 17,000 acres in northern Lebanon and Dauphin counties. It is home to the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Pennsylvania National Guard as well as numerous other tenant units. It is consistently among the busiest National Guard training centers in the country, hosting over 100,000 personnel for training annually.