That projected growth fits with broader plans to station as many as 36,000 active-duty soldiers at Lewis-McChord by 2015, up from about 31,000 today and 23,000 in 2007.
That’s a sizeable increase in just a few short years — an increase that has had and will continue to have an impact on our communities. These new members of the military and their family members purchase or rent homes, shop and commute to and from work. While the newcomers must understand that they are welcome here, it’s imperative that base officials work with local communities to help the families transition to South Sound and ease any negative effects of population growth on already stretched resources.
There is no question that Joint Base Lewis-McChord is an economic generator for the region — much like port operations, Boeing or any other major employer. The annual payroll alone is $2 billion. It’s certainly not JBLM’s sole responsibility to upgrade transportation corridors to accommodate growth.
It’s a shared responsibility, and the state must take the lead to create the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the pressures of new growth at the base. It’s yet another reason why Sound Transit must continue to expand southward in recognition that Olympia has become a bedroom community for the base, for Tacoma and for Seattle. After all, more commuters travel out of this community for jobs than work for the state of Washington locally. That’s a sizeable impact.
It’s not just soldiers clogging Interstate 5 each day. But things came to a head this summer when 18,000 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord returned home. Northbound traffic routinely backed up three, five, seven, even nine miles. South Sound motorists were forced to add up to 40 minutes to their morning commute.
Traffic congestion eased considerably when JBLM officials added a second entrance at Mounts Road.
Advance planning by state transportation officials, in collaboration with base officials, can avert those kinds of problems.
The Army has 11 combat aviation brigades but it wants 13 because of increasing demand for combat and humanitarian missions. Combat aviation brigades are made up of a mix of Black Hawk, Apache, Kiowa and Chinook helicopters. Each has up to 120 helicopters and as many as 700 wheeled vehicles.
Army officials are considering adding an aviation brigade at JBLM and another at Fort Carson, Colo.
A draft environmental impact study says the addition of an aviation unit at JBLM would create more traffic on I-5, generate more noise at the Nisqually Indian Reservation, impact water quality in Puget Sound and raise the risk of wildfires at the Yakima Training Center where helicopter crews would train.
The Army would have to build hangars, housing and offices to accommodate the new brigade.
The 441-page draft EIS said none of the sites in Washington or Colorado would have significant effects on land use, air quality, hazardous and toxic substances, and noise, although Nisqually reservation residents would feel “disproportionate impacts” from helicopter noise compared with the Lewis-McChord area as a whole, the report said.
If the aviation unit is stationed here, the troops will find a welcoming community. The annual Military Family Support Day sponsored by the Hawks Prairie Rotary Club and the Foofaraw celebration by the Thurston Chamber of Commerce are just two local events to help area military members understand that they are welcome as neighbors and that their service to the nation is honored here.
But before the Army decides to locate the aviation unit here — and we hope they do — they must have a concrete plan and the financing in place.
With the state taking the lead on transportation issues, base officials must work with community leaders to help resolve the traffic issues and other growth-related impacts.
