A state plan for dealing with the influx of new military jobs coming to Maryland does not include specific funds for Montgomery County, but state and local officials say there’s no reason for residents to worry yet.
Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center 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.
Phil Alperson, coordinator of Montgomery County’s BRAC implementation plan, said official estimates project the county will need at least $70 million to make the necessary changes to accommodate the influx of traffic at the naval hospital. County planners are recommending Montgomery County widen Maryland Route 355 from Cedar Lane to Jones Bridge Road, add turn lanes to several points on Route 355 and Connecticut Avenue, construct an east entrance to the Medical Center Metro station and add Park and Ride lots with shuttle service, among other changes.
According to Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s staff, the state’s Base Realignment and Closure action plan only accounts for spending through fiscal 2008. Brown’s deputy press secretary Michael Raia said future funding levels depend on state revenue, and officials had to hold off on approving money for other projects because the state legislature was in the midst of a special session to close a budget gap of as much as $1.7 billion.
“We just didn’t know what the fiscal outlook for the state looked like yet given the special session,” Raia said. “We will be looking at the results of that now and moving forward with that in mind.”
Alperson said he was “not surprised” that there was no funding commitment yet for Montgomery projects because the budget was still in flux when the report was drafted, but he was “guardedly optimistic” that the county would receive help in intersection improvements that leaders had recommended.
“We’ve communicated many times what our needs are, and we’re hoping to see certain things in the report that aren’t there yet,” Alperson said.
County planning board officials said an environmental-impact statement regarding the hospital consolidation project is expected in mid-December.
