On the issue of the state shifting military resources to Fort Detrick, officials from Frederick County, Frederick city and the Army said transportation is their primary concern. The leaders hosted Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and representatives from an array of state agencies Wednesday. The meeting was one in a series Brown is holding around the state to see how the Base Realignment and Closure program is progressing and what the state still needs to do to accommodate communities affected by shifting military resources.
Col. Judith Robinson, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Detrick, said she has "as much or more in terms of dollars of projects," even though the post is much smaller than Aberdeen Proving Ground, Fort Meade, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Andrews Air Force Base and other military installations in the state.
The Army post opened 1,025 new jobs over the past two years, many more than predicted, she said, and 14 more projects are expected to break ground over the next two years.
Frederick Mayor Jeff Holtzinger and Frederick County Commissioners President Jan Gardner said that the increased flow of people into and out of Fort Detrick every day increases the importance of new roads and improvements to other transit options like MARC trains.
Gardner called the proposed Monocacy Boulevard-U.S. 15 interchange "the county's top priority." The project is expected to cost $60 million to $70 million, and "that's really beyond what the city and the county can do," she said.
Although the state pulled its funding for the interchange during a round of budget cuts, the city and county still plan to contribute $2 million each for the design phase.
Gov. Martin O'Malley discussed the project during his visit Wednesday. Recent fiscal woes have exacerbated a historic underinvestment in infrastructure, he said.
"There are needs all over the state, but I am encouraged by the fact that leadership in Frederick is moving forward so that the interchange is prepared and ready to go when that day comes, when we do have the dollars."
Andy Scott, special adviser to the secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation, said no other military locations in the state are receiving money for transit projects like commuter buses and trains, but he said his department wants to start planning some projects now to put in place when the economy picks up.
Brown said after the meeting that the state still considers the interchange an important project even if the economy is keeping it from contributing any money.
"It's going to require some federal dollars. É Sen. (Barbara) Mikulski has been very actively engaged in this process, so whether it's the transportation authorization bill that's coming up, whether it's looking at some discretionary stimulus dollars, we need to make sure we're doing everything to capture federal dollars, to couple those with any available state and local dollars for that intersection," Brown said.
Wednesday's meeting was Brown's fourth of five in a recent push to better understand BRAC's impact on communities. He said Fort Detrick's needs are similar to those in other parts of the state, with a focus on transportation and worker development.
Though the economy prevents the state from providing much immediate assistance, the series of meetings "informs the decisions we make to make sure our priorities are where they ought to be and to demonstrate and reinforce the partnership that state government has with county government and federal government," Brown said.
Staff writer Meg Tully contributed to this report.
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