Traffic flow improvement: Commissary parking lot Published March 30, 2016 By Courtesy of the 86th Civil Engineer Squadron RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- In an effort to continue to improve Ramstein Air Base's traffic flow and reduce unnecessary congestion, construction at the Ramstein Commissary is scheduled to start April 11. The project will widen the exit on the northwest side of the parking lot (closest to the Department of Defense Dependents Schools buildings) to allow it to handle two-way traffic. The island on the northeast side of the lot to will also be reduced to allow engineers to change the traffic flow to two-way in the eastern part of the lot. The effect of these changes is intended to significantly reduce the mixture of foot and vehicular traffic at the main entrance to the commissary. The current layout of the parking lot routes almost all traffic--up to 250 vehicles per hour at peak times--through the bottleneck at the front of the store prior to being able to exit. This causes a significant opportunity for accidents between pedestrians and drivers. With the new flow, only those who have a need to drive through this area will cross it instead of drivers who are just trying to find their way out of the lot. It will also make the spots to the northwest more feasible since you can enter and exit from there without driving through the rest of the lot. This construction is expected to take about a week and will be followed by remarking the pavement and changing signage, which engineers will do at night to minimize disruption. Please be patient, pay extra attention, and watch your speed as the traffic flow changes. As with the recent shoppette changes, the goal for 2016 is to improve vehicle and pedestrian flow across Ramstein to increase safety today and prepare for future increases in volume.