Pentagon IG: Faulty data used in BRAC's Mark Center decision
Thursday - 4/21/2011, 8:25am ET
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A new report finds the Pentagon used faulty data when it decided to relocate 6,400 Department of Defense workers from Crystal City to Alexandria's Mark Center as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act.
The report comes from the Pentagon's inspector general.
It says the Army didn't take into account current and projected rush hour traffic, which is exactly what Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., and other local officials have been saying.
The Mark Center is on Seminary Road, just off Interstate 395, and is not near a Metro station. Officials have been raising concerns for years about the extra traffic that BRAC will bring to Interstates 95 and 395.
"We know that every intersection surrounding this new BRAC center site on Seminary Road and I-395 is going to be at a failing level of service," Moran told WTOP last year.
The Army has said the move would have no significant impact on traffic. The inspector general says there needs to be more study of how traffic will be impacted and of what the environmental impacts will be to the area.
Moran provided the report to Fairfax County and Alexandria City leaders. He's recommending filing a federal suit to block the move. Local leaders are digesting the 200-page report before deciding whether to go to court.
Related Story:
- Moran at 'wits end' over looming BRAC disaster
- Despite BRAC's federal funding, N. Va. will feel traffic pain
WTOP's Neal Augenstein contributed to this report. Follow Neal and WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
