The House has approved $300 million to ease the traffic pains of Fairfax and Montgomery counties as the military expands two major military hospitals.
Congress approved the earmark as part of a defense appropriations bill. It is designed to help Washington’s suburbs cope with the legions of workers and patients and their families who will descend upon Bethesda National Naval Medical Center and Fort Belvoir under federal base realignment.
“It will hopefully avert what otherwise would be a catastrophic state of congestion when thousands more automobiles are headed into Fort Belvoir,” Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., who, with Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., won the money.
State and local officials have promised to use the money to widen intersections and roads near the two bases. Montgomery officials also want to build an underpass near Bethesda’s Medical Center Metro station.
It may be the first time in history that Congress has allotted base realignment money for traffic abatement.
“Given the vital nature of this installation, it deserves special treatment,” Van Hollen said.
The measure now moves to the Senate. Local officials are optimistic that it will pass there, too. Phil Alperson, Montgomery County’s base realignment coordinator, called the appropriation “tremendous news.”
Roadwork ahead
Proposals for the $300 million traffic fixes
» $82 million to fix the intersections and widen roads near Bethesda Naval.
» $40 million for an underpass near the Medical Center Metro Station near Bethesda Naval.
» $130 million to widen Route 1 from Fairfax County Parkway to intersection of Buckman Road South and Radford Avenue.
» $5 million for “a comprehensive transit study”
The Washington area has the nation’s second-longest commutes behind Los Angeles. With D.C.’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center being folded into Bethesda Naval and another 12,000 employees invading Fort Belvoir, officials were worried that a full-scale traffic disaster was in the offing. “It just can’t possibly sustain that kind of impact,” Moran said.
One Army Corps of Engineers study found that the realignment to Belvoir would create three- to four-hour backups.
The members of Congress moved the appropriation under the “defense — health” heading, reasoning that it was dangerous to have wounded or ill GIs stuck in traffic on their way to military hospitals.
Moran and Van Hollen also ordered state and local officials to draft concrete plans for the money before the appropriation, rather than write a blank check.
“We wanted to make sure that this money would go for the identified purposes here,” Van Hollen said. “This is specifically to address traffic.”
