Officials Predict Gridlock After Army Base Realignment

"The Army is preparing to shift military and civilian employees from across the region to Fort Belvoir in the next five years as part of the federal base closure and realignment plan. In effect, the move will drop a workforce the size of the Pentagon's in one of the least accessible corners of the region...

The transportation challenge provides ammunition to those who from the outset have challenged the military's regional realignment approach, which has centered on transferring about 30,000 employees from the District and such inner suburbs as Arlington County and Alexandria to farther-out locations -- primarily Fort Belvoir but also Quantico and Fort Meade. Army leaders say that in the post-Sept. 11 world, it is unsafe to have employees in urban office buildings. They also say it would be more economical to group agencies on government land, like Fort Belvoir, instead of continuing to pay rent... Critics question that rationale."

Thanks to Antonio Valla