The Army has decided not to pay for a series of road and environmental projects that could have cushioned the blow of moving 19,000 new workers to Fort Belvoir, according to documents.
The military deemed the 25 proposals “not practicable because of high cost and a lack of funding.” About half were road or transit projects, which Virginia officials hoped would accompany the shift of thousands of workers under the latest round of Base Realignment and Closure decisions.
The proposals were turned down in a “record of decision” made public Friday, which details how the Army plans to redevelop Belvoir. The document’s release also allows construction to begin.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerald Hyland said he was “gravely disappointed.”
“The major, major issue that we still have is the failure to identify funding sources for transportation improvements that are absolutely essential to making this work,” he said. “[The Army] knows that infrastructure needs to be finished before they can implement BRAC.”
Of the 13 rejected transportation projects, some deal with how the county’s existing road network connects with Belvoir’s Engineer Proving Ground, an 800-acre parcel that will absorb 8,500 of the workers. The Army won’t, for example, build or improve ramps between the highway and proving ground, or create additional access to the site.
The Army has agreed to seek money to pay for some critical building that could ease traffic congestion.
Among the projects the Army will seek funding for are five access roads deemed important to national defense, according to the document. A Belvoir spokesman declined comment.
But other measures that would have protected natural and cultural resources were turned down.
“The record of decision has no real mitigation plan, no control of invasive plants and no commitment to low-impact storm water management, energy- and water-conserving buildings or vegetative buffers,” said Glenda Booth, vice president of the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia. “When the Pentagon is spending $200 million a day on the war in Iraq, how can they dismiss their responsibility on the grounds of ‘high cost and lack of funding’?”
