Report: BRAC to bring traffic headaches - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Report: BRAC to bring traffic headaches

Some military installations growing as a result of base realignment and closure actions will see traffic worsen to such a degree that little can be done in the short term to alleviate it, according to a congressionally mandated report released Monday.

The report calls on Congress to fast-track funds for transportation projects that could be initiated within one year and completed within three years, and says the Defense Department should shoulder its “fair share” of the costs.

In the BRAC areas studied, “congestion is certain to increase substantially, to the extent we feel immediate action” is needed, said Joseph Sussman, chairman of the committee that studied federal funding of transportation improvements in BRAC cases.

Sussman is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The committee was formed by the National Research Council’s Transportation Research Board after the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act called on the National Academy of Sciences to study federal funding of transportation improvements in the wake of the BRAC decisions approved in 2005.

The report also called on local communities to look at near-term solutions, such as high-occupancy or toll lanes. Sussman said authorities in local communities have more insight for such short-term strategies.

The report cites fundamental flaws in the BRAC decision-making process in considering the ability of local infrastructure to handle what will be in some cases will be tens of thousands of additional people. The report also cites flaws in the Defense Department’s ability to fund road improvements, and poor communication between installations and local transportation authorities.

Three of the case studies were in the national capital region — Fort Meade and the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland and Fort Belvoir in Virginia; the others were Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; and Fort Bliss, Texas.

But BRAC will increase the number of military personnel and civilians, families and contractors at or near 18 military bases.

While these fast-track projects would not be completed in time for the BRAC movements that must be completed in September, it would send a message to people in these areas that officials are sensitive to these issues, Sussman said.

Federal, state and local civilian officials would have had problems responding to BRAC’s impact even in normal circumstances, the committee said, partly because many localities require more than a decade to complete road projects. But these BRAC decisions come on top of an economic downturn that has strapped communities for funds. In addition, troops are being moved from overseas bases, causing some domestic bases to see additional personnel spikes.

Defense Department officials did not immediately respond to the report.

Defense Department policy generally calls for state and local communities to fund their own road improvements. Exceptions are made under the Defense Access Road program, under which federal funds are made available if traffic at least doubles in the local community.

But that criterion is unrealistic in large metropolitan areas, the committee report noted. In addition, funding under the DAR program is limited to road improvements, even though public transit is essential in some areas.

The report recommends that the Defense Department require base commanders to address off-base access congestion problems and provide them with guidance, expertise and resources; and recommends that the Department of Transportation require local authorities to work with the military.

The committee found some good news at Fort Bliss, Texas. Although further transportation improvements are still needed, installation, state and local officials have found ways to address their problems. A new segment of highway needed to support base expansion was identified early on, and the project is slated to be completed this year, for example.

“The case shows what can happen to accommodate base expansion when a community and state are committed to support it,” the report stated.