The following press release comes from Rep. Moran's office. Also, see the Washington Post article in this morning's paper. At first glance, this looks to me like a big improvement from a transportation perspective. What do you think?
Moran, Davis Announce Agreement To Ease Transition for BRAC TransferEPG limited to 8,500; Parkway to be Completed
WASHINGTON , D.C. - Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.-11th, and Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va.-8th, have received word that the Army and the Commonwealth of Virginia have reached agreement on a variety of measures to smooth the transfer of 22,000 employees to Fort Belvoir.
The congressmen have argued repeatedly the timeline for the transfer, which was ordered by Base Realignment and Closure Commission, was unrealistic and the plan would place too many employees too far from transportation amenities.
But under an agreement announced Thursday between the Army and the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Army has agreed to limit the number of employees deployed to EPG to 8,500, to have the Army oversee construction for the Parkway and have it completed before the bulk of the relocated workers descend on Fort Belvoir, and to locate some employees at the GSA Warehouse adjacent to the Springfield-Franconia Metro/VRE station.
"Since the Army announced its plans for Fort Belvoir, I have been concerned they were trying to put too many people onto the Engineering Proving Ground," said Davis. "Left unchecked, the original plans would have led to unacceptable traffic congestion. That's why I have been working to make the GSA warehouse property available to the Army.This is good news; it shows the Army sees the wisdom in what we have been saying all along."
"I salute the Army's decision to place as many jobs as possible near Metro," said Moran. "In contrast with the EPG, the GSA Warehouse site is a superior location affording easy access to public transit. Taking cars off the roads reduces traffic and improves everyone's quality of life."
Furthermore, 8,500 is somewhat of a magic number for the number of employees to be deployed to EPG. It represents the number of workers moving with the National Geospacial Agency. The NGA is the cream of the crop in terms of high-tech agencies whose jobs this area can ill-afford to lose. Moreover, it's a 24-hour operation, which means all 8,500 people won't show up at the same time. In fact, reports suggest NGA has the flexibility to begin and end work shifts at times other than traditional rush hours.
In related news, Reps Davis and Moran have been contacted about a property in Alexandria called Victory Center. Representatives of the property's owners say it is ideal to accept BRAC-related personnel - it is located near sufficient transportation infrastructure, its buildings meet DoD security standards and there is room on the site to build more buildings.
8,500 is still a lot of jobs and it's not like I-95 can handle the congestion.
Accepting BRAC related personnel at Victory Center is a method of defeating BRAC. The previous Victory Center workers relocated to Fort Belvoir. Backfilling with BRAC relocations makes no sense. You can leave the BRAC employees at their current locations and save the shuffle.
How many "abusive driver" fines do you think would have to be issued to fix that traffic mess?
Something of interest, speaking of security issues - DHS, which has a building (whole block) accross from the Clarendon Metro, has removed all DHS street parking signs from around the building by cutting them off with a blow torch about 5ft off the ground. Not like the DHS police / FPS officers standing at the entrance of the parking garage with H&K MP5 automatic weapons and K-9 wasn't enough of a tip off anyway.