After five years of planning and a $1 billion construction project, a gleaming new Defense Department facility sits atop a hill alongside I-395. The hulking 1.4 million-square-foot landmark will be the new headquarters of the military's Washington operations.Great moments in central planning! Do you think ObamaCare will be run any better?
By next September, the department must relocate 6,400 civilian, military and contractor personnel to the facility — equivalent to more than a quarter of the Pentagon's staff — in a move driven by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
Only problem is, the plan won't work, according to many experts. There is no agreed-upon way for that many people to get to the building, no place to put all their cars, no nearby Metro or rail station.
Virtually all studies done so far show that surrounding roads — even after planned expansions are completed — cannot accommodate the traffic expected to stream in and out of the Mark Center facility each day. One approach proposed by the Army, which leads the project, would construct a large ramp linking the highway and the building — but it would affect a nearby nature reserve, which the local community rejects.
With no obvious solutions in sight, a battle has erupted on Capitol Hill and the fate of the building lies in limbo, even as the Army puts finishing touches on the facility and pays for construction projects to expand nearby roads and intersections.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
$1 billion Base Realignment and Closure Mistake: Traffic upends plans for 6,400- person facility
The Federal Times reports:
