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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Virginia Reps. Tom Davis, R-11th, and Jim Moran, D-8th, and Sen. John Warner, R, jointly secured five provisions in the 2007 Defense Authorization bill that are important to Northern Virginia.
The measures will help the region deal with the more than 23,000 jobs that will move to Fort Belvoir by 2011 as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
Davis, Moran and Warner:
· Secured $13 million for construction of the Woodlawn replacement extension through Fort Belvoir.
· Helped push through a provision that would allow the Defense Department to consider funding mass transit projects related to Fort Belvoir through its Defense Access Road (DAR) program
· Secured a provision that would help forge an agreement between Virginia and the Army to complete construction of the Fairfax County Parkway through the Engineer Proving Grounds (EPG) site.
· Secured a provision that directs the Secretary of the Army to include a complete study of the impact on the local transportation infrastructure in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
· Secured a provision in the bill that requires the Army to conduct a feasibility study of locating 2005 BRAC movements at a General Services Administration (GSA) warehouse site that is within walking distance of the Springfield Metro and VRE station.
Woodlawn Roadand Beulah Street were closed through Fort Belvoir as a security precaution after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Moran, Davis and Warner have worked together since to push construction of a major new road through the base. The $13 million approved this year brings the total appropriated for the Woodlawn Road project to $27 million. And by winning funding through the Defense Authorization bill, Davis and Moran have cleared the path to receive additional funds through the 2007 Defense Appropriations bill.
“As Fort Belvoir grows, so will traffic congestion around the base,” Davis said. “Sen. Warner, Rep. Moran and I will continue to fight for every dollar to fund the necessary infrastructure improvements to the Belvoir area.”
The provision supporting mass transit requires the Department of Defense (DoD) to perform a study on including a complete range of options in the DAR program, including mass transit, to address issues at Fort Belvoir. “As we try to build the infrastructure to support growth at Fort Belvoir, we have to keep all options on the table – roads, buses, and transit,” Davis said.
The provision that forges an agreement between the state of Virginia and the Army to complete the construction of the Fairfax County Parkway through the Engineer Proving Grounds (EPG) site would authorize Virginia to fund projects on the EPG site, yet allow the Army to maintain control of the project.
Moran said, “For years, completion of the Fairfax County Parkway has been held hostage to complications involved with building through the Engineering Proving Ground. With insertion of our bill language, Northern Virginia commuters frustrated with the Parkway’s missing link will finally be on the road to relief.”
Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine requested this during a BRAC hearing Davis held at Rolling Valley Elementary School in Springfield on Aug. 31.
Building on the GSA warehouse site could encourage as many as 7,000 of those 23,000 workers to arrive via mass transit.
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