The Army’s done it again! Following its Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) to move 15,000+ military jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground by 2011—and force approximately 40,000 jobs to the Aberdeen area as a result—the Army announced that thousands of jobs intended for Fort Belvoir will, instead, be moved to Alexandria off Seminary Road, despite clear objections from Fairfax County and to the applause of Alexandria city officials.
The Aberdeen move, now a few years old, is still a huge mistake. The community isn’t large enough to hold the jobs and its lack of adequate transit hurts the families forced to move to the area. Its nearest city is Baltimore but MTA lacks sufficient connections between the two, except for one MARC stop. Carless residents are out of luck, and commuters are hurt by the substantial rise in heavy traffic.
So rather than to take the myriad of Aberdeen problems into account, the Army signed up for more of the same tribulations, as the move would save $1 billion dollars compared to the previous plans for construction. As The Washington Post noted this morning, these 6,400 new jobs in Alexandria are miles from the nearest Metro station but conveniently near I-395. Approximately 18,000 cars enter Fort Belvoir every day, promising a bigger headache for the nearby neighborhood and area commuters.
The move, related to 2005’s BRAC, is also related to Congress and the Army’s plan to move 20,000 total jobs outside of the Beltway. Many of the 20,000 rely on mass transit to get to work, and most of the positions, like these 6,400, will be moved far from WMATA access.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman Gerald E. Connolly told The Washington Post that the Fairfax shuffle was an excellent chance for reviving Springfield and supporting transit.
Keeping the small percentage of revenue gained from these positions before they moved should, in some way, have aided the budget crisis WMATA is currently mired in. How will removing transit access hurt ridership with the removal of jobs? Moreover, how will the move of the 20,000 positions throughout the Washington area affect transit? Some studies have shown that most of Metro’s daily riders are federal employees, shouldn’t it stay that way in this transit crisis? And finally, doesn’t it seem a little unfair to move employees to a car-dependent area? The district is, thankfully, an area that one can, alebit just barely, live carless. Why can’t we at least keep it that way?
Greater Greater Washington's Army chooses least transit-accessible site of three for 6,400 jobs
Comments
When the army moves the people out of Virginia, there will be some empty offce space. Presumably that space will be filled with new office workers. But not feds this time, and possible not with civilian contractors, but filled never the less. If this area is growing, this just chages the way it grows, and "slows down" the demand for new office space since there is now some existing office space.
I think you make a really great point, Henry, though I don't know if I believe it will happen (though I'd like to!)
In my mind, that's how things <i>should</i> be. But I work in a shiny new beautiful office building and my company only takes 1.5 of four floors...and it will probably stay that way. We're in an area surrounded by more buildings just like us.
I'd really like to think that the company that moves in is coming from a transit unfriendly area to make it an even trade. What do you think? :)
FYI, the BRAC 2005 law required DOD to move those organizations of BRAC #133 out of leased space in Northern Virginia and onto Fort Belvoir – or other property acquired and operated as part of Fort Belvoir – by September 15, 2011. Sites under consideration had to be capable of providing required space and security needs without creating the almost impossible transportation complications of the originally proposed EPG site.
Making Mark Center part of the post ensures we can place the jobs in secure facilities with no lease costs, keep them in close proximity to the Pentagon, and do it on time. The site significantly improves security for the 6,400 workers without significantly altering their current commutes or ability to communicate with their Pentagon superiors. It requires little to no change in contractor support relationships, or changes to residency or schools requirements for the workers.
The year-long Environmental Analysis (see http://www.belvoirbrac-eis.net/133ea.htm) concluded "long-term minor adverse" impacts, and included several mitigation measures to alleviate congestion, such as improving the capacity of Mark Center Drive, constructing turning lanes, and, as with all the sites, encouraging alternative transit measures and developing a Transportation Management Plan and staff to manage the travel demand and encourage use of transit.
Don, thanks for commenting.
You bring up several important points about the move, but I still think it will cause headaches and problems for the employees as individuals, which is more my concern than the way it was planned when the law was enacted. I think it's important to see how changes at work--in any company--will affect the people who aren't in management, and how this will change a persons life day-to-day. Which isn't to say that the overall picture isn't significant--if it weren't than there wouldn't be a move at all. :)
Most importantly though, I'm concerned about the "encourage[ed] use of transit." If it's not available the admonition to use it is almost insulting. As someone who has depended on transit as the only means to get somewhere, it's frustrating not to have access to places available to everyone with a car.
I'm glad that there are plans to make it easier on all involved but it needs to be there now and not later. Great ideas are always planned but they are rarely implemented.
Also, your comment was posted twice so I deleted one. I hope that's okay with you. :)
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