Executive Director’s Recommendation Commission Meeting: June 4, 2015 PROJECT Fuller Road Access Control Point Marine Corps Base Quantico Prince William County, Quantico, Virginia SUBMITTED BY United States Department of Defense Department of the Navy REVIEW AUTHORITY Advisory per 40 U.S.C. § 8722(b)(1) NCPC FILE NUMBER 7590 NCPC MAP FILE NUMBER 2402.00(38.00)44140 APPLICANT’S REQUEST Final approval of site and building plans PROPOSED ACTION Approve with comments ACTION ITEM TYPE Consent Calendar PROJECT SUMMARY The Department of the Navy has submitted a proposal for a redesigned access control point (ACP) and roadway improvements at the Marine Corps Base Quantico (MCBQ) Main Gate. Project improvements include: minor realignment and widening of existing Fuller Road; a new Fuller Road/Fuller Heights-Old Triangle Road intersection; relocated Iwo Jima Memorial statue and entrance signage; and a new relocated ACP facility. The new ACP will include: a gate house, two sentry houses, inspection shelters, a canopy structure, and personnel weather shelters. KEY INFORMATION • Fuller Road is the main gate onto MCBQ, and the ACP does not meet current Anti- Terrorism/Force Protection standards. • Roadway widening will reduce queuing of entering traffic onto adjacent roadways, thereby correcting a potentially dangerous situation. • Project includes low impact development techniques to minimize impacts on nearby Little Creek. Project conforms to Unified Facility Criteria (UFC), the Energy Independence and Security Act and applicable Virginia guidelines. RECOMMENDATION The Commission: Approves the final site and building plans for improvements to the Fuller Road Access Control Point; roadway realignment/widening; new intersection; new entrance signage; and relocation of
Transcript
Executive Director’s Recommendation Commission Meeting: June 4, 2015
PROJECT Fuller Road Access Control Point Marine Corps Base Quantico Prince William County, Quantico, Virginia SUBMITTED BY United States Department of Defense Department of the Navy REVIEW AUTHORITY Advisory per 40 U.S.C. § 8722(b)(1)
NCPC FILE NUMBER 7590 NCPC MAP FILE NUMBER 2402.00(38.00)44140 APPLICANT’S REQUEST Final approval of site and building plans PROPOSED ACTION Approve with comments ACTION ITEM TYPE Consent Calendar
PROJECT SUMMARY The Department of the Navy has submitted a proposal for a redesigned access control point (ACP) and roadway improvements at the Marine Corps Base Quantico (MCBQ) Main Gate. Project improvements include: minor realignment and widening of existing Fuller Road; a new Fuller Road/Fuller Heights-Old Triangle Road intersection; relocated Iwo Jima Memorial statue and entrance signage; and a new relocated ACP facility. The new ACP will include: a gate house, two sentry houses, inspection shelters, a canopy structure, and personnel weather shelters.
KEY INFORMATION • Fuller Road is the main gate onto MCBQ, and the ACP does not meet current Anti-
Terrorism/Force Protection standards.
• Roadway widening will reduce queuing of entering traffic onto adjacent roadways, thereby correcting a potentially dangerous situation.
• Project includes low impact development techniques to minimize impacts on nearby Little Creek. Project conforms to Unified Facility Criteria (UFC), the Energy Independence and Security Act and applicable Virginia guidelines.
RECOMMENDATION The Commission: Approves the final site and building plans for improvements to the Fuller Road Access Control Point; roadway realignment/widening; new intersection; new entrance signage; and relocation of
the Iwo Jima Memorial statue on the Marine Corps Base Quantico installation in Prince William County, Virginia. Notes that the Navy provided the additional information as requested by the Commission as part of the Preliminary project approval on September 4, 2014.
PROJECT REVIEW TIMELINE
Previous actions
September 4, 2014 - approval of preliminary site and building plans.
The United States Marine Corp Base Quantico (MCBQ) installation is located approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, DC and is the primary base for the U.S. Marine Corps in the Washington Metropolitan Region. The installation is approximately 87 square miles in area and occupies portions of three Virginia counties: Prince William, Stafford, and Fauquier. The installation is bifurcated by Interstate Route 95 (I-95) as shown in Figure 1. The portion of MCBQ located west of I-95 is known as “West Side”, and the area to the east of I-95 is known as “Main Side.”
This proposal will improve the Fuller Road entrance, which serves as the twenty-four hour Main Gate for the MCBQ. The existing access control point (ACP) is situated approximately 1,200 feet to the east of the Fuller Road / U.S. Route 1 intersection, with two lanes extending east (after the ACP) toward Main Side. The project site is approximately 2,900 feet along the Fuller Road alignment, extending from the U.S. Route 1 intersection to just east of the Mason Drive intersection. Little Creek is situated along the north-side of the project area and undeveloped woodland is situated along the project area south-side. The proposed roadway widening will occur to the south of the existing Fuller Road right-of-way.
This project is designed to improve the Main Gate entrance area to meet current Department of Defense anti-terrorism/force protection (AT/FP) standards and to correct the lengthy entering traffic queues that frequently back-up through the Route 1 / Fuller Road intersection. NCPC recently reviewed and approved another similar project at MCBQ’s Russell Road Gate at its July 2013 meeting.
Proposal
The Department of the Navy submitted a proposal for a 16.4-acre project that includes a minor realignment and widening of Fuller Road; a new Fuller Road / Fuller Heights-Old Triangle Road intersection; relocation of the entrance’s Iwo Jima Memorial statue; new entrance signage; and a new, relocated access control point facility. The new ACP will be situated approximately 900 feet to the east of the current facility to allow additional queuing space for entering traffic volumes. This project will extend 2,900 feet along Fuller Road, widening the roadway width from two to five lanes (two outbound and three inbound) between Route 1 and just past the Fuller Road/Mason Drive intersection. The new ACP will have four entry lanes and Fuller Road will narrow back down to its existing two-lane width just east of Mason Drive.
The project will remove a total of 10.85 acres of forest (228 trees) to accommodate the new roadway alignment and ACP. The Navy will re-plant 3.8 acres of trees along the re-graded roadway side slopes and within the new alignment as part of the project’s streetscape. In total, the project will plant 46 large stock trees and 2,515 bare root trees, resulting in an overall net increase in trees. The project will be located partially within and parallel to the Little Creek floodplain; however, the design will minimize its stormwater impacts through five dry swales and two re-forest areas as low impact development zones. In addition, the Navy has pledged to rehabilitate Little Creek as mitigation for this and other nearby planned projects. Roadway Realignment and Widening
The existing Fuller Road is a two-lane roadway that widens at the main gate to three entry lanes. This project will expand the roadway to provide two continuous outbound lanes, three continuous inbound lanes, and four entry lanes through the ACP facility. The new roadway width will extend between U.S. Route 1 and just east of Mason Drive. New Access Control Point Facility
The security facilities include a new 5,055 square-foot gate house, two sentry houses, inspection shelters, a canopy structure, and personnel weather shelters and new fencing.
Figure 3: Gate House Elevations
The new, brick gate house will be approximately 19 feet in height and have a gabled, standing-seam aluminum roof. The new 46-foot by 80-foot canopy will be 27 feet high, with reinforced, brick columns and a 17-foot clearance for vehicles. Two smaller sentry houses will be situated under the canopy. In addition, the proposal includes other infrastructure improvements such as a new water main and a new sanitary sewer line for the new buildings.
New Fuller Road / Fuller Heights Spur-Old Triangle Road Intersection
Fuller Road currently intersects with the Fuller Heights Road spur immediately to the west of the existing Main Gate access control point facility (Figure 5). Currently, outbound (westbound) traffic may turn right onto the spur and spur traffic may turn right (westbound) onto Fuller Road traveling in the direction of U.S. Route 1.
Figure 4: Elevations of canopy structure and sentry houses
The project will construct a new un-signalized “T” intersection between Fuller Road and Fuller Heights Road by extending Old Triangle Road directly to the south. The new intersection will be located just to the west of the existing Fuller Road / Fuller Heights Road spur intersection, designed to accommodate all traffic movements. So traffic traveling into Main Side will now be able to turn left onto the Fuller Heights Road spur and spur traffic will be able to turn left onto Fuller Road to access the ACP, which does not exist today. In addition, there will be a third, right-turn only lane between the new intersection and U.S. Route 1. Iwo Jima Memorial Statue Relocation and New Entrance Signage
A fourth component of this project is the relocation of the Iwo Jima Memorial Statue currently located in the southeast corner of the Fuller Road / U.S. Route 1 intersection. The Iwo Jima Memorial Statue will be moved approximately 90 feet to the southeast, up a rise, in a more visible elevated (six feet higher) position. The relocation is intended to provide an improved setting for the memorial and entrance appearance. Several trees will be removed (See figure 4) and some re-grading will be necessary to accommodate the relocation. In addition, new MCBQ entrance signage will be installed to replace the existing sign.
Figure 6: Proposed Fuller Road Entrance – Site Plan
Staff has reviewed the submission and is generally supportive of the project, which includes roadway improvements; a new ACP facility; new entrance signage; a new intersection; and relocation of the existing Iwo Jima Memorial statue. This project is designed to improve the safety of entering motorists, bring the ACP up to current AT/FP standards, and to improve the appearance of the Main Gate area. Although the project will impact several forested areas along the southern portion of the roadway, staff is satisfied that planned reforestation and Little Creek restoration efforts will mitigate these project impacts. The Navy conducted a thorough review of the stormwater impacts associated with this project as reflected in the Limited Impact Development and Stormwater Management Report, which was included in the Preliminary project submission. The report calculates the impact of the project on stormwater and the adjacent floodplain and concludes that the project will be in compliance with Virginia and Department of Defense regulations through the use of LID practices and reforestation. Therefore, staff recommends that the Commission approve the final site and building plans for improvements to the Fuller Road Access Control Point; roadway realignment/widening; new intersection; new entrance signage; and relocation of the Iwo Jima Memorial statue on the Marine Corps Base Quantico installation in Prince William County, Virginia. In addition, the Navy submitted additional reforestation and roadway design information as requested by the Commission during its Preliminary review of the project in September, 2014. Staff is satisfied with the level of detail provided in the Navy’s supplemental submission. Therefore, staff recommends that the Commission note that the Navy provided the additional information as requested by the Commission as part of the Preliminary project approval on September 4, 2014. The additional information is described further in the following “Analysis” section.
Analysis
The Navy transmitted two letters pursuant to the Commission’s Preliminary project approval with detailed information regarding reforestation and roadway design attributes/considerations. Regarding the project’s future reforestation, the letter states that the Navy will replant over 2,500 trees to mitigate the removal of 228 trees, which is well above NCPC’s “no net tree loss” policy (Appendix A). Pursuant to VDOT’s referral comments, the Navy provided relatively detailed technical responses to each of VDOT’s comments/questions, and VDOT has indicated that the Navy responses are satisfactory. The Navy’s roadway design response letter is provided in Appendix B.
Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital
The Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital provides goals and policies that guide the Commission in evaluating and acting on plans and projects in the National Capital Region. Staff has determined that the proposed project is consistent with the following policies from the
Transportation, Parks and Open Space, and Federal Environment Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital.
1. Avoid destruction of or damage to wetlands. 2. Coordinate wetland activities with federal, state, and local government programs and
regulations, and with special programs such as the Chesapeake Bay 2000 Agreement. 3. Protect the scenic and ecological values of waterways and stream valleys.
Relevant Federal Facility Master Plan
The widening of Fuller Road is not contained within the approved 2002 MCBQ Master Plan. As such, the project was referred out in accordance with our guidelines on intergovernmental cooperation and NCPC project submission guidelines.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Pursuant to its responsibilities under NEPA, the Navy conducted an Environmental Assessment for the project. The EA analyzed the following topics: environment, historic resources, water resources, traffic and transportation, soils, and utilities. The Navy determined that impacts to these would be either mitigated or not impacted and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on September 10, 2012. As this project is located in the environs, NCPC does not have an independent responsibility under NEPA. Stormwater Management
The Navy developed a “Limited Impact Development (LID) and Stormwater Management Report” (May 2014) for the project to specifically evaluate the impact of this project on stormwater management for the area. The Navy used this report to document how the project would conform to the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), Department of Defense Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) standards and those in the Virginia Code on stormwater regulations as determined by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The DoD’s UFC for Low Impact Development (UFC 3-210-10) describes the standard for treating, retaining and detaining stormwater on DoD properties so that new projects will be in compliance with the requirements under EISA. With regard to treatment storage of stormwater, the Navy is required to treat 7,611 cubic feet of water for this project under UFC 3-210-10 as it applies to EISA. The Navy is proposing to treat 21,902 cubic feet of stormwater on-site by using five different areas of low impact development south of and adjacent to the expanded roadway. These LID areas are composed of five dry swales and two reforested areas. The Navy also determined that the proposed LID met the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) standards as well. Among its responsibilities, DCR is responsible for the successful implementation and enforcement of Virginia’s Stormwater Management Regulations (4VAC3-20-81) and the Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations (4VAC50-30-40.19). Regarding the allowable channel protection volume, the Navy is required to provide 16,377 cubic feet of storage and the total volume in the proposed LID is 21,902 cubic feet.
Lastly, the Navy calculated how the project would meet the total phosphorus load reduction as required by the DCR. Project calculations show the total phosphorous load reduction required is 7.34 pounds per year. Through the use of LID techniques and reforestation of 3.8 acres adjacent to the project area, the proposed design would be able to remove a total of 7.55 pounds per year, which is greater than the amount required by the regulations.
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
Pursuant to its responsibilities under Section 106 of the NHPA, the Navy determined that the proposed action would occur outside the MCBQ Historic District and therefore, would not have an adverse impact direct or indirect effect on the National Register of Historic Places eligible properties. In addition, the Navy completed several Phase 1 archeological surveys over the project area. No significant sites were identified. The Virginia State Historic Preservation Office concurred with the finding and stated that no additional identification efforts are warranted. As this project is located in the environs, NCPC does not have an independent responsibility under Section 106 of the NHPA.
III. CONSULTATION
Coordination with local agencies
In accordance with the Commission’s Procedures for Intergovernmental Cooperation in Federal Planning in the National Capital Region, the project was referred by NCPC to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Prince William County Office of Planning, Prince William County Department of Planning, the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC), and Northern Virginia Transportation Commission on June 12, 2014. Staff received comments back from the Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). DEQ indicated that the project will have no significant impacts on its jurisdiction. VDOT however, listed a number of project-related issues in a response letter, summarized through the following points:
• Several aspects of the design regarding vertical and horizontal clearances at the checkpoints and maintaining sufficient sightlines at the VDOT intersections with Fuller Road.
• Questions about coordination regarding the Fuller Heights Road intersection improvements which is a roadway project being managed by Prince William County that will include new signalization.
• Floodplain impact analysis and review of the report project by Prince William County. • Pavement marking changes and corrections as listed on the drawings provided. • Maintenance of traffic flow during construction.
Staff forwarded VDOT’s referral comments to the Navy, and the Navy submitted detailed letter responses (Appendix B). VDOT has indicated that the Navy response letter satisfies each of its comments. Through the project’s EA process, the preliminary design was referred out to multiple Virginia State agencies, which all generally concurred that the project is consistent with all applicable federal and State policies and laws, assuming that proper construction methods and Best Management Practices are used for the project.
