FORT MEADE, Md. -- The time of heavy construction and major steelwork have largely come to a close for three Fort Meade construction projects.
With little more than a year until the required completion of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process, work is running on schedule to meet or beat the September 2011 deadline. At the same time, leaders both on and off post are planning how to accommodate the thousands of new employees scheduled to work on the installation.
Two of the agencies are the Defense Media Activity, which will be based near Cooper Avenue and Mapes Road and was created to focus on DoD's media enterprises, and the Defense and Military Adjudication Activities Co-location Facility, which will approve security clearances out of its new facility near the Llewellyn Avenue gate.
Development has shifted to inside the buildings' mammoth frames on issues such as mechanical and electrical work.
At the Defense Information Systems Agency, the biggest employer coming to Fort Meade due to BRAC, work has progressed briskly on its new headquarters neighboring DMA.
Some of the seven buildings in the DISA complex are virtually complete, said Bert Pechhold, the Army Corps of Engineers resident engineer on the project. When the complex is completed, it will house DISA's 4,300-strong workforce.
While BRAC requires each of the three facilities to be up and running by September 2011, the agencies may start moving here even sooner.
DISA already has the capacity to house about 300 people in some of Fort Meade's existing buildings. In January, the agency will begin moving between 150 and 200 people per week into the complex as DISA's buildings are deemed ready for use.
DISA aims to finish its relocation by July 2011, said Thorne Murrell, who performs BRAC Business and Community Outreach for DISA's BRAC office.
Although construction of the BRAC facilities may be proceeding on time, plans to accommodate the workforce and ensuing traffic have had mixed progress.
With the country in recession, Maryland's declining tax revenue and Defense Secretary Robert Gates warning that the spigot of defense funding that opened after 9/11 is closing, planners both on and off post have struggled to find funding.
Funded projects include a plan to widen a section of Route 175 between I-295 and Rockenbach Road. That project, funded by a private developer, will add additional lanes to accommodate traffic exiting I-295 and heading to Fort Meade's Rockenbach Road gate, said Andy Scott, special assistant to the Maryland secretary of transportation.
While some projects either in road improvements or mass transit have had to be put off, they remain a focus for state planners, Scott said.
Beyond dealing with traffic, Fort Meade is working to include other aspects of infrastructure to accommodate the number of employees expected.
Two Child Development Center modules will be located near the intersection of Ernie Pyle and Fourth streets. When finished in about another year, the structures will offer increased capacity as well as a 24-hour facility.
"I think quality of life at Fort Meade will always be fairly pleasant," said Bert Rice, the installation's director of transformation. "There are a lot of amenities here."
While planners both on post and off acknowledge that some infrastructure projects may not be completed by 2011, the area will continue to change to accommodate the installation's rising population.
"We know this region is going to be a focal point for growth for a considerable time," Scott said. "Our work will definitely continue past BRAC."
Send comments or questions to amccombs@patuxent.com.
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