Are public officials losing sleep over traffic congestion at military bases?
"Traffic is a constant concern for military personnel, elected officials, and residents," says Russell W. Barry, when he talks about highways around Eglin Air Force Base. Barry is road department manager for Okaloosa County in Florida. Eglin Air Force Base occupies about one third of the land in southwest Okaloosa County.
"Smooth traffic flow and a short commute around Eglin AFB is not only a quality of life issue for military personnel and families, it is a quality of life issue for all residents of Okaloosa County," adds Barry.
Barry's department is feverishly upgrading roadways just to keep pace with the county's steady 2 percent annual population increases. What's more, through the year 2015, Eglin will add 5,000 additional military personnel and 7,000 dependents as a result of BRAC realignments.
"We have recently completed a project to relocate the east gate at Hurlbert Field to aid traffic flow. We also have a project in the early stages to improve traffic flow at the west gate of Hurlbert Field by building a flyover on SR 98 to ease congestion," explains Barry. “Longer term, 78 percent of the $142 million generated by a proposed one-cent sales tax would be spent on transportation infrastructure improvements."
Pressure on the Highway System
Meanwhile, up north, at the Army's Ft. Drum facility near Watertown, New York, efforts are also underway to improve the highway system.
"One project that's been in the works for many years is a new four-lane connector highway to Interstate 81 that links right up to Ft. Drum," says Bill Bamann, RCI (residential communities initiative) program manager at Ft. Drum. "Hopefully, the new road will draw some of the heavy commercial truck traffic that's coming up Interstate 81 and trying to get to Route 11 north via the secondary roads. It will allow faster access for our soldiers going north or south on Route 81 or going to other areas of Watertown."
Plans call for the New York State Department of Transportation to start work on the new connector highway sometime in 2008, according to Bamann.
Also in the works: adding a traffic signal on Route 26, which bisects Fort Drum.
"That should make it easier for troops to commute from one side of the post to the other," says Bamann. As new retailers like Wal-Mart have set up shop outside Ft. Drum's gate on Route 11, traffic signals have been upgraded and/or adjusted to compensate for increased traffic, he adds.
Many of Ft. Drum's soldiers have been deployed to fight the global war on terror, so traffic levels have eased somewhat around the post. Even so, major commercial and residential developments near Watertown, plus the addition of a third brigade to the 10th Mountain Division at Ft. Drum, will keep area roads close to capacity.
"Traffic flow is an important issue, and it does impact quality of life, that's for sure," says Bamann.
Ft. Drum, which has been used as a military training site since 1908, is in expansion mode. Over the past two years, about 6,000 additional soldiers have been posted here, as part of the Army's transformation into a modular force. In addition, about 845 new homes are being built on post right now, which will bring Ft. Drum's total housing count to 3,115 units by the end of 2008.
At Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Maryland, government bodies have been working together on a security gate upgrade, with the main goal to keep traffic disruptions to a minimum, according to Ron Bickerstaff, chief, community relations, at Andrews.
"We have coordinated with the state and the county to make sure that we are all working together-it's been an outstanding experience up to this point,” said Bickerstaff. “The military and the local governments have come together to make sure that when we do close the gate, that traffic flow is not going to be an issue, and that traffic patterns won't be hindered."
Plans call for the gate, which is on a main thoroughfare, to be closed for up to a year so sensors and other technology on the gate can be upgraded to enhance security.
Some of the groups in Prince George's County that have brought their expertise to the task says Bickerstaff: transportation department, law enforcement, the county leadership in Prince George's, and the councilmember who represents the area around Andrews AFB. The base, which covers 4,320 acres, hosts more than 20,000 active duty military personnel, as well as civilian employees and family members. Andrews is 10 miles southeast of Washington, DC.
The Public Transit Option
One solution to clogged highways around military facilities may be to encourage base commuters to rely on public transit. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) already transports significant numbers of commuters via rail and bus to the Pentagon. What's more, WMATA's Bethesda Metro station is located directly across from the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., so patients, their families, and staffers have a convenient way to reach the health facility.
The WMATA's Sara Procacci Wilson adds: "We have also been trying to reach out to military bases and VA facilities in the area to let them know about our accessibility features for persons with disabilities. All of our rail stations, trains, and buses are accessible to persons with disabilities."
Procacci Wilson, who is WMATA's intergovernmental relations officer, is married to a Navy Reserve officer. "An easy commute," says Procacci Wilson, "is a big priority in our household. Unfortunately, homeland security concerns really do make it a challenge to get near or onto bases via public transportation."
Commuters to military facilities around Hampton, Va. have a wealth of transit options. Carpool and vanpool programs, for instance, have been established at Naval Station Norfolk and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va.
Three express commuter routes, offering 14 morning and afternoon trips,
have been established to Naval Station Norfolk using area park and
ride locations, says James P. Toscano, who is director for external affairs at Hampton Roads Transit.
What's more, says Toscano, "Naval Station Norfolk and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va. sponsor a Transportation Incentive Program based on the federal tax code (Section 132F) that states that an employer may give an employee up to $105 per month for riding in vanpools or taking the bus. Currently, the annual subsidy is approximately $1.5 million."
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