Congress moved Friday to limit the number of cars pouring into Alexandria’s Mark Center and clogging Interstate 395.
Rep. Jim Moran, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Sen. Jim Webb and Sen. Mark Warner, all Virginia Democrats, added a provision to a must-pass appropriations bill that would limit the number of parking spaces at the office center to 2,000 to encourage defense workers moving there to use public transit for their commutes.
The Pentagon has been blamed repeatedly for moving 6,400 employees to the Mark Center off I-395 and Seminary Road in Alexandria, where there is no Metrorail station. Many local officials worried the move would create a “traffic nightmare.”
Most of defense workers will not move to the Mark Center until March, but Moran said the new parking cap will only keep traffic from getting any worse until a final fix is found.
“I don’t want to leave anybody with the sense that there’s not going to still be congestion,” Moran said.
The budget provision also orders the Pentagon to conduct a new traffic study, based on accurate data, to determine how to deal with traffic in the area. A recent Department of Defense Inspector General’s report said that the Pentagon’s previous studies were flawed.
“It’s now the law. Unfortunately we couldn’t really trust the executive branch for us to suggest that they do something and know they would do so,” Moran said.
The House passed the bill Friday; the Senate is expected to vote Saturday.
