(Good work! – promoted by lowkell)
Washington, DC – Congressmen Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Senators Jim Webb and Mark Warner today announced the approval of $180 million for the widening of Route 1 through Ft. Belvoir to accommodate the influx of new military and civilian personnel and hospital traffic related to BRAC. This funding announcement marks a contract award stemming from the $300 million appropriation secured last year by Reps. Moran and Chris Van Hollen for BRAC-related transportation improvements. Construction will begin following an environmental study which Fairfax County has been conducting in anticipation of this award. The dollar amount is $30 million higher than originally anticipated, stemming from the cost of completing all three phases of the project.
“This is a big win for Northern Virginia as a region, the commuters along Rt. 1 and DoD employees at Ft. Belvoir,” said Rep. Jim Moran. “Ft. Belvoir is home to a state of the art hospital and with full funding, patients and their families will be able to travel more safely and quickly to receive medical attention and visit loved ones. I’d like to specially thank the DOD’s Office of Economic Adjustment for understanding the dire transportation needs of our community, Dr. Dorothy Robyn, Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, for helping spearhead the effort at DoD, Senators Webb and Warner for pushing the measure through the Senate, and our local officials in Fairfax County, Chairwoman Sharon Bulova and Supervisors Jeff McKay and Gerry Hyland, for hitting the ground running on a project that means so much for the corridor.”
“The project announced today is a tribute to Congressman Moran’s persistence. He has been the driving force in getting action from all levels of government on BRAC-related transportation issues,” said Sen. Jim Webb. “This investment is critical to mitigating traffic congestion as a result of the BRAC consolidation and is an important step towards improving Northern Virginia’s strained transportation infrastructure.”
“We have got to move forward on improvements to the I95/Route 1 corridor to support the Fort Belvoir expansion,” Sen. Mark R. Warner said. “Congestion mitigation is critically important to commuters, businesses and homeowners near Belvoir, and I am very pleased the delegation was able to successfully work together on both sides of the Capitol to get this done.”
“I am pleased the Pentagon recognized the importance of this project to assist the thousands who commute daily to and through Fort Belvoir along the Richmond Highway corridor,” Rep. Gerry Connolly said. “The Northern Virginia delegation has been working with local leaders and the Pentagon to make the federal government more of a partner in the effort to ensure the massive BRAC relocation in southern Fairfax County is a success. While additional transportation improvements must be made, this project will be critical to controlling traffic in our community.”
The $180 million will go towards widening Route 1 near Ft. Belvoir’s Main Post from Telegraph Road to Mulligan Road, in order to accommodate the more than 11,000 new DoD employees and 574,000 hospital patients that will visit Fort Belvoir’s new, state of the art hospital. The project will be administered by the Federal Highway Administration. Also receiving funding are BRAC relocation sites in Maryland, Texas and Washington.
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