Community Corner

Funding Priorities Outlined For BRAC Transportation Projects

Metro crossing project tops the list of BRAC transportation improvements for which county and state officials will request federal funds.

Transportation officials will pitch a project that would build a pedestrian underpass beneath Rockville Pike and add deep elevators to access the Medical Center Metro station as their top priority for federal transportation funds.

County and state transportation representatives are in the process of applying for a portion of the $300 million set aside for transportation improvements in communities with BRAC-impacted military hospitals. The money will be administered through the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment.

In Bethesda, the federally-mandated Base Realignment and Closure program has added 2,500 employees to the newly-minted and is expected to nearly double the amount of yearly visitors to one million, inciting a host of traffic concerns.

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It’s unclear exactly how many communities will apply for the federal transportation funds, but they may also include Fort Belvoir in Virginia, home to the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital.

“This is a competitive process,” said Montgomery County BRAC coordinator Phil Alperson at a Tuesday meeting of the BRAC Implementation Committee – a group of stakeholders tasked with reviewing transportation projects around the Bethesda military hospital. “I stress – this is a competitive process. There’s $300 million available, and it’s not all for us.”

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The Metro crossing project will add a shallow pedestrian tunnel beneath Rockville Pike to connect the military hospital with the Medical Center Metro. It will also add deep elevators on the East side of Route 355 near the Navy gate at South Wood Drive to ease access to the Metro station.

Bethesda leaders are prioritizing BRAC-related transportation projects as a part of the OEA and the Metro crossing project tops the list of the six projects for which the county and state will request federal funds, Alperson said.

A county-led environmental study for that project has been completed, and it’s also received a go-ahead from the Federal Highway Administration.

Listed in order of priority, the other five projects include:

Alperson said at the meeting he wouldn’t describe specific funding amounts being requested because of the competitive grant process. However, “The least costly projects are at the bottom of the priority list,” he said. “It’s most important for us to get the big bucks projects.”

At the meeting, the priority list was met with praise.

“I’m just delighted that the Metro project is the number one,” said BIC member Ilaya Hopkins. “I think that was the right way to go.”


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