State Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw says Alexandria shouldn’t be shocked if the Defense Department destroys part of the Winkler Botanical Preserve to solve traffic problems at the Mark Center. The statement surprised supporters of Winkler, who a year ago launched a successful campaign to save the preserve after the Virginia Department of Transportation suggested building a direct-access ramp through the forest connecting the Mark Center with Interstate 395.
VDOT officials have said the ramp is no longer under consideration. But at a business luncheon in Alexandria, Saslaw said the option isn’t necessarily off the table.
“Keep in mind, no matter what they tell you, they still got one thing, and there’s nothing you can do about it. They got a thing called ’eminent domain,’ ” Saslaw said. “They can seize and cut down every single tree in those woods if they wanted to do it.”
Tom Fahrney, project manager for transportation issues at the Mark Center, spoke after Saslaw and quickly stated that the department had “eliminated all alternatives that go through Winkler.”
The proposed ramp through Winkler was one of several alternate traffic patterns suggested by VDOT. But officials are still anticipating dire traffic woes at the Mark Center next September, when thousands of defense workers will be transferred to the facility as a part of the Army’s Base Realignment and Closure program.
Studies suggest the move will paralyze traffic at the nearby I-395 and Seminary Road interchange, an area that already experiences its fair share of gridlock.
When Alexandria residents realized parts of Winkler would be destroyed to accommodate the Mark Center, they quickly organized the community to lobby VDOT and the Alexandria City Council in support of the preserve.
VDOT told the Alexandria City Council in April that the city’s concerns had been heard, and that the Winkler option was removed from consideration. But Saslaw insisted that the Army could still look to Winkler as the solution to the traffic problems the Mark Center will soon face.
“I think it’s going to be kind of difficult, and wrong, for them to resolve this thing without taking some of the woods that’s a part of that Winkler Preserve, quite frankly,” said Saslaw. “I don’t see how they can do it.”
Jodie Smolik, director of the Winkler Preserve, said the Army made the wrong decision in choosing to move to the Mark Center in the first place and that tearing down Winkler would only compound their mistake.
The 44-acre property is privately operated by a small nonprofit organization supported by the Winkler family since the late 1970s. The land, which contains many native plants and trees, has long been a field trip destination for some 12,000 Alexandria students each year, she said.
“Saslaw said the Army admits it made a mistake. Well, it’s a colossal mistake, and now we’re going to reward the Army by saying just take the preserve through eminent domain?” said Smolik. “How can we trust them that their traffic plan is actually going to solve the traffic? There are alternative solutions.”
