Virginia and local leaders are groping for new ways to ward off transportation nightmares once the Army moves into Alexandria’s Mark Center next year, as one solution after another proves unworkable. The Department of Defense intends to relocate roughly 6,400 employees to Alexandria in September 2011 as part of its Base Realignment and Closure plan. The move is expected to make matters worse on already gridlocked sections of nearby Interstates 395 and 95 unless steps are taken to improve the current road and interchange plan. Officials from Alexandria, Fairfax County, the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Department of Defense have worked since mid-2008 on a plan to avoid the pending traffic debacle. But after months of talks and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on studies, officials are still searching for a feasible solution. “The options we’d considered were not acceptable for various reasons,” said Ronaldo Nicholson, VDOT’s regional director. Nicholson said the dozen or so options state and local authorities had considered did not adequately address the transportation issues or infringed on the nearby Winkler Botanical Preserve. “We received hundreds of comments from residents worried about the impacts on the preserve,” Nicholson said. Virginia’s Department of Transportation and local officials will have to explore new solutions, Nicholson said, which will require more time and money. In a letter sent to Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille, Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton called on the city to supply the funds needed to explore new options. Connaughton’s letter says VDOT does not have money to pay for further studies, and if the city does not “provide the leadership needed to help find a feasible solution,” the entire region would face “debilitating traffic impacts.” Alexandria leaders expressed surprise that state transportation officials had brushed aside all previously considered options, and said it was VDOT’s responsibility to lead future discussions. “When it comes to an interchange, we have limited authority,” said Alexandria Transportation Director Rich Baier, who said the onus to locate funding should be on the state’s transportation department. Both Baier and Euille said city officials would continue to work with VDOT to develop an acceptable solution.
