Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on Tuesday said he will ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to voluntarily delay the Army’s move into new office space in Alexandria until traffic problems at the site can be addressed. McDonnell’s announcement came just hours before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors concluded that it doesn’t have the legal authority to challenge in court the Army’s shift of 6,400 defense workers to the Mark Center near the intersection of Interstate 395 and Seminary Road this September.
Local officials said the additional commuters on what are already heavily congested roads will likely cause gridlock.
McDonnell said he will ask Gates delay the move entirely or to do it in phases to reduce the impact on traffic until road improvements around the site can be completed.
Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., has urged local communities and the state to sue the Pentagon to stop the move. But Fairfax officials who discussed a possible lawsuit Tuesday concluded that they couldn’t sue because the deadline for taking such action has passed.
“While we remain concerned about the significant impact from the new facility, we have determined that federal law does not give the county the opportunity to challenge” the move, said Fairfax County Supervisor Jeff McKay, D-Lee District.
A spokesman for Moran said the congressman is undeterred, still believing a lawsuit may be the region’s best chance to delay the move.
“The statute of limitations issue is a roadblock but not an insurmountable one,” said Austin Durrer, Moran’s chief of staff. “The congressman will continue pressing forward with an ‘all options on the table’ approach in his ongoing battle to mitigate this looming traffic nightmare.”
The Army has long insisted that there would be no traffic problems at the new offices even though the site has no access to public transportation. But the Pentagon’s inspector general last week found the Army had erred in its traffic studies, bolstering local officials’ assertions that road improvements needed to be done before the workers move in.
Prince William County officials have said they would not join in a lawsuit against the Pentagon. The Alexandria City Council was reviewing its legal options Tuesday evening.
