Long-awaited plans for a new fire station and intersection improvements at MCB1 and Hot Patch Road on the west side of the base, where the Fire Station 533 is currently located, have reached a new milestone:

An environmental assessment is currently under review, and the project has gone through cost certification for the FY2017 budget. According to Richard A. Reisch, head of the Asset Management Section in Public Works Branch, final funding approval has not yet been given for the project, however, so work has not yet begun. Reisch estimated that work is unlikely to actually begin until the summer of 2018 at the earliest, assuming the project is approved for the FY2017 budget.

The station was built in 1981 and an addition was built in 1992. However, according to Bruce Sullivan, deputy chief of the Marine Corps Base Quantico fire department, the facilities are no longer adequate for housing the firefighters and paramedics or storing the equipment. There is not enough berthing or office space for the 10 first responders working there, and the kitchen and dining room are too small. Further, modern fire trucks cannot fit into the existing bays at the station; they are notably larger than fire trucks built in the early 1980s.

Sullivan said the current plan is to build a new facility a few hundred meters further down MCB1 with adequate berthing, dining and office space, as well as larger bays and storage facilities to house the vehicles and equipment.

The intersection at MCB1 and Hot Patch Road is a major chokepoint for traffic, given that a large number of people enter the base at Exit 148 off of I-95 and use the intersection to go to The Basic School, the FBI Academy and other units in the area. At the end of the day, many base workers on the east side of  base drive through the west side of the base via that intersection to access Stafford and other points south. This creates lengthy traffic delays along MCB1.

To alleviate the problem, Reisch said a two-lane roundabout would be incorporated to smooth out the flow of traffic and allow more cars to pass through the intersection, thereby reducing the traffic delays. Studies have shown that roundabouts significantly increase the volume of cars that can pass through an intersection in a given time period, as compared to standard 4-way intersections.

The environmental assessment, being prepared by Heather McDuff, head of the National Environmental Policy Act Coordination Section at MCBQ, reveals that there would be little to no impact on the environment from the project, provided that the contractors adhere to prescribed prevention and mitigation measures. The threatened and endangered species that call MCBQ home, such as the small whorled pogonia (a 10-14-inch tall member of the orchid family) and two types of freshwater mollusks, are not found in the current or proposed construction area and therefore would not be negatively affected. Migratory birds and game animals would also not be affected by the proposed relocation and road widening.

The threat with the biggest potential to cause harm, McDuff said, would be stormwater runoff during the demolition phase that could pollute the local waterways. However, if the stormwater pollution prevention plan is followed carefully, there should be no adverse effect on the waterways.

— Writer:vebaker@quanticosentryonline.com