Bethesda’s Clark/Balfour Beatty has won a $641.1 million design and construction contract, the first awarded in the upcoming military reorganization that will transfer some medical services from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center.
While preliminary design work and permitting efforts included in the contract can begin immediately, no construction or groundbreaking is expected until summer because officials are still going over environmental planning concerns.
The Navy released a draft environmental impact statement in December that confirmed community speculation that the project would increase traffic in the area: The report said the Bethesda hospital is expected to add as many as 2,500 workers and nearly double its patient load to about 900,000 visits per year after the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
County planners are recommending Montgomery County widen Maryland Route 355 from Cedar Lane to Jones Bridge Road and add turn lanes to several points on Route 355 and Connecticut Avenue, among other changes, to accommodate the influx of traffic. Short-term costs alone are projected to be at least $70 million.
The Navy’s December draft report, however, said it wasn’t the Navy’s responsibility to pay for those changes under current Defense Department provisions, to the dismay of local leaders.
“The way the policies are currently structured is very prohibitive,” Montgomery County Council President Mike Knapp told The Examiner. “It really seems to allow funds to go for work on the actual site of a BRAC project, when the impact here will be felt by the entire community.”
A document issued last week, however, said Bethesda naval hospital officials were working with Defense Department leaders to examine possible revisions to the existing policy.
Navy officials said in a written statement Monday they hoped to have a final economic impact statement ready for release in early April.
They added that the “Department of Defense is aware of the increased traffic concerns of the surrounding communities, and continues to consider measures to mitigate traffic impacts that could arise during the period of the increased traffic concerns of the surrounding communities and continues to consider measures to mitigate traffic impacts that could arise during the period of construction and work with local civilian leadership.”
