Moran Speaks Out Against Mark Center Following New Report

A new federal report released Wednesday agrees with what many area politicians have been saying for months: that the transportation impacts of new employees at the Mark Center in Alexandria were not studied closely enough.

The 200-page report, by the Department of Defense’s inspector general, claims that the studies the Army used failed to take into account the current and projected traffic conditions near the Mark Center. It also found that a Transportation Management Plan (TMP) from 2010 did not include or address a sufficient way to reduce traffic in single-occupancy lanes.

During a press conference Thursday morning, Congressman Jim Moran (8th – D) called once again for a delay to the move of 6,400 DoD employees currently scheduled for September 15.

“[These analyses] have to be redone,” he said. “The problem is [these employees] are going to move in September, and it won’t be redone by September. We would hope that we could stop this move until we have an adequate transportation plan.”

Moran said he had given the report to government officials in both Alexandria and Fairfax County, in hopes that together they will be able to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, requesting an injunction to block the move.

“Given the fact that there are at least 200,000 people in standing that could bring suit, I trust someone will,” Moran said.

As of now, there is no word on whether Alexandria or Fairfax County officials intend to file suit.

Moran also spoke out against the from the Northbound HOV lane on I-395 directly to Seminary Road. “That flyover ramp needs to be built as fast as possible,” he said. “We can’t allow another yearlong delay for another environmental analysis. We need that ramp built now, we need to start construction immediately … with the use of the $20 million we programmed.”

The majority of the 6,400 DoD employees will be coming from Crystal City, a location with its own metro stop. It is the hope of the Virginia Department of Transportation that the HOV ramp will encourage carpooling and transit options.