Getting to Bethesda's Medical Center

Most Bethesda residents have given little thought to crossing Wisconsin Avenue from Metro to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. But those that have get that inchworm-on-the-road feeling, and now that the facility is due to swell with thousands of new workers, urban planners are trying to do something about it. To that end, the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) will hold a public information session on Tuesday to discuss potential options to improve pedestrian interface with the 7 lanes of autobahn just north of downtown Bethesda. Thanks to a federal BRAC decision to close the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and consolidate it at Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center, Montgomery County officials and the surrounding community have been working together to prepare for the influx of 2,500 employees and half a million (annual) visitors and patients expected to frequent the new location beginning in September 2011. Tuesday's meeting will include information on proposed options to provide more efficient transit options. The state had tasked Metro with completing the study after it received $20 million DOD grant to improve transit access to the medical center. In July of 2009, WMATA released an environmental impact study that detailed several options for moving people safely and efficiently from the Metro across Rt. 355. 

The study looked at options including an improved intersection, a shallow pedestrian tunnel, deep elevators and a below-ground mezzanine, a combo of shallow tunnel and deep elevator and even an elevated pedestrian bridge.According to MCDOT Deputy Director Edgar Gonzalez, shortly after the Metro study the County applied for a share of the $1.5 billion in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) funds, including options like pedestrian and bike crossings. To prepare for that award, MCDOT has undertaken its own environmental impact study, exploring a variety of options that, unlike the Metro study, are not restricted solely to pedestrian access. Gonzalez said the study has examined a range of options from pedestrian, to pedestrian and bikes, to having emergency vehicles connect between the NIH and Navy Medical. Some local groups and residents have made serious and public accusations against MCDOT claiming secretive government plans and auto access via an underpass, but Gonzalez insists that claims of a 4-lane auto underpass are "totally inaccurate" and that the very idea of a "secret plan is stretching it." You can find out for yourself at the meeting on tonight at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be at the Bethesda Chevy Chase Regional Services Center at 4805 Edgemoor Lane.

Bethesda real estate and development news

Delayed Healing for Walter Reed

Military medicine in the DC metro area is to undergo a severe reorganization in the next three years as the District’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) closes its’ doors to merge with Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), delaying redevelopment of the site. But the project, which is to see the sprawling Bethesda site re-titled the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), hit a speed bump this week as the proposed start date for the $641.1 million undertaking was called into question before Congress.

The slow down came early in the week as Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania (D) inserted language into Congress’ defense-spending bill that would prevent the current Walter Reed facility from closing down at the intended date in 2011. As reported by The Hill, it is Murtha’s intention to keep the WRAMC open as long as possible, in order to ensure that the hospital’s “world–class medical facilities” for military personnel will not be compromised. (Although that view seems to conflict with WRAMC’s image following The Washington’s Post’s 2007 series of scathing exposes about patient conditions at the compound.) Murtha’s efforts could delay the project an additional 18 months and add an estimated $150 million to the project’s price tag.

Currently, the capabilities of both the WRAMC and the NNMC are set for a dramatic expansion once construction is completed. The overhaul needed to transform the 243-acre Bethesda site into the WRNMMC breaks down like so:

• A 261,000 square foot renovation of the current NNMC facilities

• The construction of a new 6-story, 533,000 square foot, 345-bed medical center

• A 157,000 square foot, 4-story addition to an existing building that adjoins the Building One hospital

• The construction of a new 80,000 square foot, 2-story facility to house the National Intrepid Center of Excellence

• The construction of new pathways, utility tunnels, barracks, a gym, parking lots and a garage

• The relocation of key WRAMC service centers, such as those for amputee therapy and lung and breast cancer

The integration the nation’s two most prominent military hospital and research facilities was mandated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act, which required the relocation of all WRAMC services by September 15, 2011. An Office of Integration was established soon afterwards by the Navy in order to facilitate the transition in a timely and efficient manner to the Bethesda location 6 miles away – an effort that is already well beyond the initial planning phase. Jurisdiction over funding for the project fell to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, which, as of March 2008, had already granted a joint contract to firms Clark Construction and Balfour Beatty Construction. A groundbreaking ceremony held this past July 3^rd was overseen by President George W. Bush.

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