Officials celebrate connectivity

  • Published
  • By Veronica Sandate Craker
  • Northwest Guardian
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  The merger to create Joint Base Lewis-McChord may have occurred four years ago, but for the first time a project is underway that will physically connect the Lewis Main and McChord Field areas of the base.

On Aug. 19 installation commander Col. H. Charles Hodges Jr., gave Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Adam Smith (WA-9) and Rep. Denny Heck (WA-10) an update and work-site tour of the new JBLM joint base connector road and overpass.

Hodges said the roadway will be the first physical connection between the geographically separate areas of the base.

"At this point we no longer get to use the terms 'that side' or 'their side' or 'the Air Force side' or 'the Army side,' now it's just all part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord," Hodges said.

The new construction will cross Perimeter Road, which bisects Lewis Main and McChord Field. The connector was requested for transportation purposes to make it easier for anyone needing to travel from one side of the base to the other without using I-5 or secondary roads. Additionally, it creates a physical union between McChord Field and Lewis Main. As it stands, in order to get from Lewis Main to McChord Field drivers must exit and then re-enter through security. The connector would cut down on travel time and intentionally ease some of the traffic congestion currently seen on Interstate 5.

"According to the Washington State Department of Transportation, the capacity of I-5 along JBLM is approximately 120,000 vehicles per day," said John Norgren, JBLM legislative liaison. "However, on average I-5 is handling about 150,000 vehicles each day. So you've got a highway system that is already exceeding its capacity."

The elected officials were pleased to hear that the project would contribute to the easing of traffic congestion. However, Murray said the JBLM roadway is only part of a long term solution to ease congestion on I-5.

Plans for the project began in 2009 when Smith sponsored the project and added it to the fiscal year 2010 budget. At the time JBLM was in his district. Redistricting lines were amended in 2012, making Heck the installations new representative. Construction on the $7.5 million project began in May and has an estimated completion date of mid-January 2015.

Construction is under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. Garco Construction out of Spokane is handling the project. The company is working alongside Total Site Services out of Richland, Wash., as part of a Mentor Protege program that links small construction companies with larger ones to handle a major project. The McChord Field commercial gate is closed during construction. The twelve, 183-foot-long girders for the overpass are expected to be in place by mid-October.

The addition of the connector will also free up manpower as security will no longer be needed at the Lincoln-Rainier gate.

Wyatt Branchcomb, Army Corps of Engineers, said the total project includes the construction of a 14,000 foot cantonment fence on the Lewis Main side, the connector road, and the overpass which will be built over BNSF railroad tracks and Perimeter Road, a public access road that passes between the installation.

The project currently being constructed is Phase I. There is an unfunded Phase II project that would eventually turn the joint base connector into a four-lane highway between Lewis Main and McChord Field. No date has been set for the second phase.