The communities surrounding Fort Belvoir will need an infusion of state and federal funds to prepare for the arrival of about 21,000 military jobs at the base, according to Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald Hyland.
Hyland, who represents the Mount Vernon District, predicts that major upgrades will be necessary to local infrastructure — especially roads — as the area braces for the influx of jobs relocated under the Base Closure and Realignment Commission’s recommendations.
But BRAC funding, said Belvoir spokesman Don Dees, will only address needs within the base.
The relocation is expected to have far-reaching implications for an already fast-growing part of Fairfax County.
“I think a lot of us sort of hold our breath that we’re going to find a way to make it work,” Hyland said. “It’s a challenge. There will certainly be an impact on the surrounding communities.”
For example, he said, projects on the Fairfax County Parkway, Route 1 and Woodlawn Road “absolutely have to be done” before 2011, when about 5,000 military personnel and many more civilian employees and contractors complete the move to Fort Belvoir.
An appropriations bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week contains $13 million for the proposed Woodlawn replacement extension, according to Rep. Jim Moran’s office.
Many issues surrounding the move, including where the agencies will locate on the installation, remain up in the air.
The Belvoir New Vision Planners, a group of firms hired to develop a master plan for the massive relocation, are set to give recommendations to the Army in June on where to place the incoming workers, Dees said.
The Fairfax County Planning and Zoning Department has said it will examine what the relocations will cost schools, parks, water and sewer, transportation and other systems once those recommendations are in.
At a glance
A wide range of military jobs will relocate to Fort Belvoir, including:
» Medical care functions from Walter Reed Army Medical Center
» Logistics functions from Naval Support Activity in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
» Elements of PEO Enterprise Information Systems from Fort Monmouth, N.J.
» National Geospatial Agency units
