Area transportation officials have approved an initial set of measures to combat expected gridlock around Alexandria’s Mark Center, but local elected leaders say long-term solutions are still a long way off.
The National Capital Planning Commission has approved a transportation management plan for the Mark Center, which is scheduled to house more than 6,400 Army employees starting in September 2011.
The closest Metrorail station is more than two miles away from the complex, prompting fears that traffic on Interstate 395 and other already-congested area roads will slow to a crawl when the new commuters arrive.
The management plan includes a system of shuttles to ferry commuters between the Mark Center and its five nearest Metro stations.
The management plan also includes a number of road improvements, including new traffic signals, barriers, and additional turn lanes on Seminary Road and North Beauregard Street.
But arguably the most important project — adding direct access from I-395 to the Mark Center — has yet to leave the planning stages.
Local, state and federal officials have known for almost two years that the Army was headed for Alexandria, but they have been unable to agree on a plan to install a new access ramp from the center to I-395, the closest major highway.
“In terms of future access to come off of I-395, that’s still in the works,” said Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille. “The planning dollars have been identified, but nothing concrete has been decided.”
Transportation officials had identified nearly a dozen options for a direct link between I-395 and the center, but all were eventually cast aside due to safety concerns on the part of the Army or environmental concerns on the part of local residents.
Euille said Alexandria, working with the Virginia Department of Transportation and local agencies, had developed two new options for the exit ramp. But those options were still in “the early planning stages.”
“It’s probably still six months or more away until we even get close to making presentations to the community and then bringing [a plan] forward for finalization,” Euille said.
