BRAC may bring more commuters than movers

Capital Newspaper

By RYAN JUSTIN FOX, Staff Writer

Published 10/03/09

BRAC may bring more commuters than movers

Many employees headed to Fort Meade undecided on whether to relocate

Fort George G. Meade is shaping up to be more of a commuter town than a bedroom community as the post quadruples its operations over the next two years. Employees from a massive Defense Department installation headed for Fort Meade seem to be reluctant to take up relocation packages to move to their new job site. That decision could increase the strain on the already failing roads and busy mass transit system.
"We're going to have to change our modus operandi," said Bob Leib, the BRAC coordinator for Anne Arundel County. "Fort Meade (after) BRAC is going to be more of a commuting event."

Military and government leaders gave an update on the progress of BRAC projects in Maryland during a meeting yesterday morning at the State Department of Housing and Community Development in Crownsville. Several major operations are moving to Fort Meade as part of the federal base realignment and closure process, or BRAC. The Defense Information Systems Agency, currently based in Arlington, Va., will be the biggest new tenant inside Fort Meade. Construction is nearly half done on its new five-building, 1 million square-foot headquarters inside the fort. DISA is sending out letters to employees later this month informing them that their jobs will begin to move to Fort Meade next year.

BRAC officials originally predicted that many DISA employees would relocate to Maryland, enticed by a fertile housing market back when BRAC was first unveiled in 2005. But the collapse of the housing industry has officials rethinking their estimates. "A lot of people may decide to commute," said Joe Re, a BRAC coordinator for DISA. "It's only 28 miles away." About 70 percent of DISA employees live in Virginia, according to DISA officials. Just under 60 percent of those employees said they would accept a transfer to Fort Meade. In 2005, more than half of the employees said they would not move to Fort Meade, according to DISA. Still, a large portion of employees remains undecided on whether to move to Maryland.

DISA and other new Fort Meade agencies are also encouraging employees to telecommute when they can. DISA officials are advocating for more funding for road projects and public transportation. They're also pushing for better synergy between Maryland and Virginia on in-state tuition fees. The state has already cut funding for road improvement projects by two-thirds because of the state's growing budget deficit. Leib said officials have had to cut back on the number of road projects around Fort Meade but that improvements will be made to several intersections along Rockenbach Road, and Route 175 will be widened.

The county is planning to bolster the nearby Odenton MARC station, already one of the busiest stations in the system, with new garages and transit-oriented developments; though developers of the Odenton project have complained that county officials are dragging their feet in getting the site ready for BRAC. The first wave of DISA employees is expected to move in next year. The new DISA will have to be fully operational inside Fort Meade by 2011. "This growth is not going to be something static. Growth is going to be a part of our steady diet," Leib said.