The long-anticipated traffic gridlock expected from the opening of the Mark Center in Alexandria may be avoided, at least temporarily. Local and state officials said the Defense Department has assured them that the 6,400 workers being moved to new offices near the intersection of Interstate 395 and Seminary Road will not all move in by the Sept. 15 deadline. Instead, only 2,200 workers will be moved by that date, significantly reducing the immediate effect the commuters will have on area roads.
The remaining 4,200 workers would be moved by the end of the year.
City officials said the delay still wouldn’t allow them enough time to build needed road improvements near the site, though efforts are already underway to delay the move for up to a year.
“Obviously, it’s better for everybody’s planning purposes, if they don’t just jump in with 6,400,” Alexandria Deputy Director of Transportation Abi Lerner said.
Local, state and federal officials have been pressing the Pentagon to delay the move to the Mark Center so that road improvements can be made before thousands of additional commuters are added to roads already choked during rush hour. No improvements were made ahead of time because the Army wrongly concluded in studies that the shifting of workers would not affect traffic.
Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., inserted a provision in the Defense Authorization Act that, if approved by Congress, would allow the Pentagon to delay the move beyond the end of the year, possibly until September 2012.
The current Sept. 15 deadline was set by an independent military base-closing commission that consolidated military installations around the country, including shifting the defense workers from Crystal City to the Mark Center. To miss the deadline, the Pentagon needs congressional approval.
The Defense Department wouldn’t comment on whether it would delay the Mark Center move. A spokesman said only that the department “must proceed in accordance with its existing legal obligations” until “legislative relief” arrived.
But local officials said the Pentagon has assured them in meetings that it would slow the move into the Mark Center to reduce the effect on traffic, regardless of whether Moran’s provision is approved by Congress in time.
Not everyone is counting on the Pentagon to stick with that plan.
“From a Fairfax County perspective, we look at this thing as they’re going to be in there in September, and we’re planning based on that,” said Mark Canale, former base-closing coordinator for Fairfax.
Still, a phase-in would be greeted warmly by local officials.
“Any delay would be welcome,” Alexandria Vice Mayor Kerry Donley said, “because we really need to let the infrastructure catch up with the ultimate needs of that building.”
