Federal Funding of Transportation Improvements in BRAC Cases

Book excerpt: The Transportation Research Board has released a study of federal funding of transportation improvements in Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) cases. The committee that produced the report concluded that traffic delays resulting from the BRAC decisions and short timeline for implementing the decisions will impose substantial costs on surrounding communities and may even be harmful to the military. The report offers recommendations to mitigate the effects of BRAC for the near, short, and long term. Among its recommendations, the committee calls on Congress to consider a special appropriation or the allocation of uncommitted stimulus funds to address the most adverse transportation problems caused by additional military traffic from base realignments. The intent of these funds would be to initiate projects as soon as possible that would reduce the severity of congestion impacts within three years.