Katleen Miller, The Examiner
2008-01-21 14:16:53.0
Current rank: Not ranked

Washington DC -

Emergency response times could increase 20 percent in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area following military reorganization plans that may double the patient load at National Naval Medical Center by 2011, according to Montgomery Fire Chief Tom Carr. Carr’s comments are the latest in a series of questions from Montgomery County leaders about whether the transfer of services from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the naval hospital will cause a traffic nightmare in the already congested area.

A recent report from the Navy said the Bethesda military hospital is expected to add as many as 2,500 workers and see its patient load nearly double to about 900,000 visits per year after the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in less than four years.

“I have concluded that BRAC implementation at the [naval center] would, in the absence of adequate mitigation measures, have unforeseen adverse impacts on the ability of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service to deliver timely and effective emergency services within the Bethesda-Chevy Chase area,” Carr said in a written statement to Montgomery officials.

Fire and rescue officials also projected double the number of calls for them to assist in emergency situations at the hospital after the military restructuring. The increase in traffic would add to the number of vehicle collisions on roads around the hospital, they added.

Federal, state and local officials are wrestling over whose responsibility it is to pay for the costs of traffic mitigation required by the project, which Montgomery BRAC coordinator Phil Alperson said would cost $70 million

in short-term projects alone and potentially as much as $210 million. Carr joined county planning officials in recommending that wide shoulders be constructed along Rockville Pike, Cedar Lane and Jones Bridge Road near the hospital so emergency vehicles can move quickly through the area. He also suggested designating an existing or future traffic lane for use by emergency vehicles only as an alternative to widening the roads.

“Absent one or both of these alternatives, [emergency] vehicles will have great difficulty moving through traffic, particularly during rush hours, in the vicinity of [the military hospital] and points beyond,” his memo said. Montgomery Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson told council members last week that there were a number of holes in a draft environmental impact statement released last month by the Navy.

“The increase in patients and visitors place an extraordinary burden on the transportation to the area,” Hanson said. “The environmental impact statement says there are no long-term effects to the demographics of the area; we think that may be an understatement at best.”

kmiller@dcexaminer.com