With Base Realignment and Closure in full effect and construction ongoing through out the installation, the importance of traffic management is at an all-time high.
Fort Belvoir's Traffic Demand Management Team has instituted a plan to apply several initiatives to lessen the impact of single-occupancy vehicles traveling through the installation's gates on a daily basis.
The implementation of alternate work schedules, teleworking and a shuttle service are either currently underway or are close to being implemented.
Juanita Green, traffic management plan coordinator, noted the complexity of Belvoir's plan.
"Our plan is very comprehensive and covers everything from parking to information on how many employees are using the telework and alternate work scheduling," Green said. "I am currently communicating with many of our tenant organizations on post to see how many commuters are using the different initiatives we have suggested."
Green has already received feedback from the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
"Out of the 2,422 employees at DLA, 897 of them are currently on alternate work scheduling and 12 of them are participating in vanpools," Green said. "There are 1,344 employees at DTRA and 510 of them are on alternate work schedules, 229 are teleworking and 80 are vanpooling."
Green has been happy with the progress the TMP working group has accomplished since it began a year ago.
"This group came together and collaborated and developed policy for alternate work schedules and I can see the increase in the use of that program," Green said. "On Fridays, traffic is less and I can see there are more people taking advantage of the alternate work schedule.
"Our tenant organizations are encouraging their employees to take alternate means of transportation and I am a commuter myself so I see the difference on Fridays and, before that, it was on Mondays," Green said.
Belvoir has also been trying to implement an internal and external shuttle to also help alleviate some of the traffic on post. Green said progress is being made in the achievement of a shuttle.
"The internal shuttle is still being worked on, but we are going to have one," Green said. "It will start at Pence Gate and it will circle all the way to JJ Kingman Gate. During the lunch hour we will have two buses running and they will go to the PX and Commissary area.
"The external shuttle is currently being handled by another government agency and that shuttle will go to the Virginia Railway Express and the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station," Green said.
With construction currently ongoing at two of the main gates onto the installation, Green emphasized commuters to remain patient and know that a better situation is coming.
"There are going to be some challenges upcoming with the increase of lanes at Tulley Gate and traffic is not going to get better as construction continues," Green said. "We are still encouraging commuters to carpool or vanpool whenever possible and that is my main focus."
Installation Commander Col. Jerry Blixt has been persistent in easing the traffic demands on Belvoir and its surrounding area.
"Belvoir remains engaged with our community partners, transportation experts, elected officials and installation partners to develop a viable transportation plan to ease the traffic demands," Blixt said. "As a good neighbor, our intent for improving transportation focuses on helping the installation, our community and Northern Virginia. We must have a concerted effort from the installation to help alleviate the number of vehicles transiting to Fort Belvoir on a daily basis.
"Building, expanding and improving our road network to help facilitate or ease the movement represents our commitment to improving our infrastructure, but we need to transform the way we approach our daily commute," Blixt said.
Social Sharing