Engine Company 99 had a problem. A new automatic aid dispatch protocol put Engine 99 as the second due fire company to the Textile Town Center. At 3 am Engine 99 was always second arriving. During the day, Engine 99 was often fourth arriving. If this continues, Engine 99 may be moved off the first alarm assignment.
Getting to the Town Center
It is a 2.1 mile trip from the fire station to the Town Center:
- Right (East) out of fire station onto Commonwealth Boulevard
- Left (North) onto County Connector Road
- Right (Northeast) onto Textile Highway.
The flat street map does not show the topography. Commonwealth Boulevard goes down a hill. At the bottom of the hill is the intersection with County Connector Road. Engine 99 has to go back up the hill on County Connector Road to get to Textile Highway.
Negotiating a major traffic intersection
Commonwealth Boulevard and County Connector Road is a major commercial intersection, with two service roads. Regardless of the traffic signal, Engine 99 needs to carefully clear the intersection with 20 different points of vehicle entry.
Considering an alternative route
Woodfield Road goes from Commonwealth Boulevard to Textile Highway. 
It is a wider-than-usual residential road that separates two 1940 era single-family subdivisions.
There are no schools or churches on Woodfield Road. The road is relatively flat and the travel distance is 0.1 miles longer than the original route.
Easier to enter
In comparison to the Commonwealth Boulevard/County Connector Road intersection, turning north onto Woodfield Road requires crossing two lanes of westbound Commonwealth Boulevard traffic and one service lane. Only four sources of vehicle entry. The westbound Commonwealth Boulevard traffic is going uphill and has a clear line of sight if Engine 99 is responding and going to make a left turn onto Woodfield.
Easier to exit
The southwest corner of County Connector Road and Textile Highway has a three-story commercial building right at the edge of the sidewalk. The only way to see oncoming eastbound traffic on Textile Highway is to nose out into the intersection. You do not see them and they do not see you until the last minute.
The southwest corner of Woodfield Road and Textile Highway has a gas station and strip shopping center. It is much easier to see the oncoming Textile Highway traffic and they can clearly see the responding fire engine much sooner.
Using the new route improved Engine 99’s daytime response time to the Textile Town Center. They remain as the second due engine on the first alarm assignment. Adding 0.1 miles to the travel distance significantly improved response time performance by reducing the traffic interactions and eliminating the climb up County Connector.
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Featured picture: “Woodfield Road” heading north from “Commonwealth Boulevard”.
Elements, identifiers, and sequence of events may be altered in “war stories” to protect the innocent or work better as an example