Congressman Jim Moran has been working hard over the last three years to obtain federal funding to help mitigate some of the traffic problems caused by BRAC at Fort Belvoir.I have written about some of his previous efforts here:
Today, the U.S. Army announced that it was awarding $180 million to Fort Belvoir. This is significant on a number of levels.
First, Route 1 is desperately in need of widening along this stretch of road due to current and future traffic and this will bring some relief.
Second, this lays the ground work for transit along this stretch of U.S. 1. The improvement will likely include dedicated right-of-way for some kind of future transit improvements.
Third, this project will have taken place due to the efforts of the federal, state and local government. Senator Toddy Puller initiated the Route 1 improvement process in 1994 with her legislation authorizing the Route 1 Centerline Study. Fairfax County funded the engineering design process last year with a $2 million appropriation. Finally, the Federal government has come through with the funding for the improvement.
Lastly, federal funding of a local transportation improvement validates the importance of Fort Belvoir to the United States Military and demonstrates that the Federal Government will fund local transporation improvements when they benefit a military asset like Route 1. This demonstrates why the Federal Government will be involved in funding the extension of the Yellow Line to Fort Belvoir once we have laid the groundwork for that as well.
My joint press release with Senator Puller is below.
RELEASE- Puller Surovell Applaud $180M for Rt 1-1
See also http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65908
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