Like many Defense Information System Agency employees who trekked from Virginia to Fort Meadeon Wednesday for the groundbreaking of their new headquarters, Alfred Rivera pondered how he will cope with the added 22 miles to his commute.
“I hope the roads will be able to handle not only the government workers, but also all the contractors,” said Rivera, DISA?s director of computer service, who lives in Washington.
“If they can do that, the answer to whether current employees will come will be an easy answer.”
More than 4,000 DISA employees will call Fort Meade home by September 2011, which is the federal deadline for the move from Arlington, Va., to Odenton as part of the Base Realignment and Closure.
Officials broke ground on what is the first ? and biggest ? BRAC-related project at the fort.
The building will encompass 1 million square feet, cost more than $400 million to build and house the agency responsible for providing information technology and communications for the federal Department of Defense and the president.
Elected officials at the ceremony were well-aware of the decision before the DISA employees ? to stay with the agency or quit and work in Virginia ? as their speeches seemed more like advertisements for Maryland.
“Don?t worry ? we?re doing everything we can to get money from the federal government to improve the traffic situation and the quality of life,” said U.S. Rep. Dutch Rupersberger, D-Md.
The BRAC influx, along with the National Security Agency?s expansion and related contractors, will bring 20,000 new jobs to the Fort Meade area ? along with traffic and infrastructure demands.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Croom Jr., DISA?s director, said the agency has come a long way from its 34 employees in the 1960s.
“It won?t be long before we?re under the sun here in Maryland,” Croom said.
Rivera said about 75 percent of his employees plan to come to Fort Meade, but whether to commute or relocate is their biggest decision.
“I can see young employees moving to Maryland, but we have a lot of employees with families who may not want to make such big changes,” Rivera said.
Efforts are under way to improve the transportation system to Fort Meade. A bus depot will be built by nearby Tipton Airport, and a new local bus service will connect employees to the Odenton MARC train station.
Anne Arundel?s top transportation priority is the expansion of Route 175, but officials have said the project won?t be complete until four years after the DISA move-in.
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. will erect the building and plans to subdivide the project to allow small and minority businesses, as well as local companies, to participate inthe project, said Steven Speer, the company?s vice president.
