Davis, Moran Join Forces To Transfer Site To Army

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
May 24, 2007
Pg. VA1
By Annie Gowen, Washington Post Staff Writer
U.S. Reps. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) and James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) are spearheading an effort to secure a coveted piece of federal land next to the Metro station in Springfield for some of the military employees slated for transfer to Fort Belvoir, a move that could lessen the traffic impact on the region, officials said.
Local officials have long argued that the Army should consider putting some of the 22,000 employees to be transferred to Fort Belvoir at a 70-acre warehouse site on Loisdale Road instead. The property, owned by the General Services Administration, sits at a prime locale just a half-mile from the Franconia-Springfield Metro station. A study has shown that as many as 9,000 people could be settled in offices built where the warehouses stand.
The Army has said it doesn't own the site and doesn't have the authority to commandeer it.
But soon, it may have.
The defense bill approved last week by the House includes a mandate for the GSA to transfer the warehouse property to the Army by September 2008.
The House also approved a sweeping provision that would bar the Army from proceeding with some of the transfers unless about $450 million in roads improvements are complete.
Both measures require Senate approval and ultimately could delay the Army's hopes of completing the transfers called for in the federal base realignment and closure process by 2011.
Officials have long predicted dire consequences for the region's traffic if the Army goes ahead with its plan to put 18,000 workers in new offices on an old training range off Interstate 95 known as the Engineer Proving Ground, which has no Metro access. The remaining 4,000 workers would be based at the main post.
The influx of cars would be a "traffic nightmare" for the region, Moran said. A recent Army report backed up such gloomy predictions, noting there would be "severe congestion lasting 3-4 hours" near the proving ground if some $458 million in road improvements were not made.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) said that if the Army could use the warehouse site, Fairfax might still have a "fighting chance" to bear the brunt from the influx of workers. The county contends that it needs more than $1 billion in road improvements to handle the change.
"We've moved from it being the kernel of an idea to something that is being planned for," Connolly said of using the warehouse site. "There are some legal formalities that need to be concluded in order for us to move forward."
A congressional study of the warehouse, which was released in April, said between 3,000 and 9,000 workers could be accommodated with upgrades of from $423 million to more than $1 billion.
Donald N. Carr, director of public affairs for Fort Belvoir, said the Army was proceeding with the plan to cluster the majority of new employees on the proving ground and was in a "wait and see" mode on the proposed land acquisition.
"The legislation is moving, but it is still draft legislation," Carr said. "Meanwhile, the law says every commander at every post has until 15 September, 2011, to complete the move. We're continuing to march with that timeline in mind. . . . [If the warehouse site] becomes available in July or August, then the Army and the planners would have to look at any way at all we could make use of it and not blow out the timeline."
Davis said he thought the transfer would go forward.
"We're 90 percent of the way there on this, although that may change. It works well for everybody logistically," he said. "It's not done yet, but this is certainly under the category of doable."
 
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