City of Vicksburg Street Department employee Mike Presson puts out signs Wednesday in front of ERDC Gate 2 where city crews painted a turn lane to accommodate traffic flow from Halls Ferry Road.(Melanie Duncan Thortis The Vicksburg Post)

[5/8/03]Employees and visitors to the Army Engineer Research and Development Center will be inconvenienced while security is improved at the main gate and two others.

The sprawling Army Corps of Engineers research and development complex at the Waterways Experiment Station employs about 1,500 engineers, scientists and support staff and performs research in a wide range of engineering and scientific areas.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the security has been increased at WES, as it has at other federal installations. Among the most noticed changes were the closing of Gate 2 on Halls Ferry Road across from Hamilton Heights and Gate 5 on Porters Chapel Road and what appear to be huge concrete planters surrounding the main building of the ITL on Porters Chapel Road.

Tuesday, ERDC took another step and closed the main gate on Halls Ferry Road, which Bill Roth, ERDC chief of security, said is a temporary measure while enhanced security facilities are installed at the gate and guardhouse.

To provide entrance and exit to the station, farther south on Halls Ferry, Gate 2 has been opened.

Roth said he worked closely with James T. “Bubba” Rainer, head of the Vicksburg Public Works Department and Lt. Walter Beamon, head of the Vicksburg Police Department Traffic Division, on installing an additional asphalt-paved turn lane for the northbound lanes and proper striping on Halls Ferry.

Roth said the work on the main gate is scheduled for completion June 19 when it will be reopened and the use of Gate 2, except in emergencies, will be suspended.

To improve safety for motorists on Halls Ferry Road as well as for vehicles turning in and out of Gate 2, WES personnel trimmed back some trees and bushes beside Gate 3 to improve the site distance for Gate 2.

“Gate 6 on Bazinsky Road was closed in April for security upgrades,” Roth said, adding much of that work is already complete.

The upgrade included a new, bullet-resistant guardhouse, concrete barriers and barriers that can be raised on hydraulic rams when needed, Roth said.

While work was in progress on Gate 6, he said Gate 5 on Porters Chapel Road has been used in the mornings when employees arrive, at lunch time and in the afternoon when employees head home.

Gate 8, which is used by employees and visitors at the ITL on Porters Chapel Road, will also be upgraded to include a bullet-resistant guard0house and hydraulic barriers.

All of the gates that will be in use daily or in emergencies 1, 2, 6 and 8 will have closed-circuit television cameras installed, as will the ITL parking lot.

“We just ask the public to be careful around the new gates,” Roth said.

WES is the headquarters for ERDC, which has seven laboratories, four of which are in Vicksburg. These include the Coastal and Hydraulics, Environmental, Geotechnical and Structures and Information Technologies laboratories.