If you drive into the District along I-395, today could have been a ruder awakening than usual, thanks to the new Mark Center complex.
WUSA9 reports that the last of the 6,400 government employees and contractors slated to work out of the Mark Center along 395 and Seminary Road will be moving in today, leaving commuters worried that they’ll pack already packed roads to get there.
Local officials have expressed concerns over potential traffic tie-ups ever since the Department of Defense announced that it would be moving workers to the new complex as part of the Base Realignment and Closure plan. As a means to mollify them, the Pentagon agreed to move only 2,200 workers into the building last September, with the remainder to start there this month.
The Pentagon was criticized in a December 2011 report for using faulty numbers to study the impact on traffic; satellite parking has been suggested to ease some of the congestion. Another issue with the Mark Center? Due to its proximity to the highway, security officials have expressed concern that it could be vulnerable to a terrorist bombing.
An obvious solution? Capital Bikeshare stations. Tons of them.
Martin Austermuhle