The excitement of BRAC expansion is finally becoming real to residents of Anne Arundel County, particularly west county, as we move closer to the February occupancy of DISA's headquarters building.  But the issue that has yet to be adequately addressed - nor can it with current resources - is the transportation network necessary for BRAC employees to reach Fort George G. Meade without significant backups. The scale of the problem is hard to grasp. Currently Fort Meade's work force is approximately 40,000 people, with an additional 22,000 expected by 2015 (many by the end of 2011).

By comparison, the Pentagon employs only 27,000 people. Yet the Pentagon is served by a rich network of highways, Metrorail, local roads, and an onsite bus terminal, with a culture encouraging carpooling and transit use engendered by significant parking shortages.

Fort Meade? No mass transit, and almost no ridesharing - in fact, Fort Meade averages 1.09 riders/car vs. almost three at the Pentagon. Bus service stops at the gates - and it's a long walk from there to most offices, with no regular on-base transit currently available.

And the roads outside Fort Meade are at capacity during rush hour now, let alone after the 85 percent increase expected by mid-2011. Route 175 between the Baltimore Annapolis Parkway and Rockenbach Road, anticipated to be the most heavily traveled route by those commuting from Northern Virginia, is currently only two lanes.

The state's answer? They cut the funding for road improvements, delayed design and construction for widening of Route 175 and Route 198 adjoining Fort Meade, and asked the Fort Meade Regional Growth Management Committee to prioritize intersections requiring improvement.

Of seven intersections identified as failing by 2015 (or sooner), only three were funded for improvements - and none will be done by 2011.

Thankfully, the private sector is stepping into the breach - or attempting to. BRS/EGGERL, LLC, the owner of property where Parkside Development, a mixed-use development, is planned along Route 175, has agreed to widen the road from Rockenbach Road to the Parkway from two lanes to five in time for the fall 2011 BRAC deadline.

And Halle Development has been in negotiations for months with Anne Arundel County to build Town Center Boulevard, the spine road of the Odenton Town Center which could relieve traffic on Route 175 by providing alternate access to Seven Oaks and Reece Road.

But both projects require government cooperation to move forward, and if the Halle agreement is any example - it's taken nearly two years to come close to a signable agreement - the BRS/EGGERL widening project is hardly guaranteed.

Meanwhile, the Regional Growth Management Transportation Committee has been focusing on a more short term - and environmentally-friendly - answer. Called Transportation Demand Management, it's an effort to lessen the bond Marylanders - and our new neighbors at Fort Meade - have to their cars.

Thankfully we have an advantage in that many of those relocating with DISA are already used to ridesharing, either through carpools, vanpools, or transit programs, and they are also frequent teleworkers. With the help of organizations like the BWI Business Partnership and Central Maryland Regional Transit, programs have been developed to provide service from Northern Virginia and Southern Maryland and to reduce vehicle traffic to Fort Meade.

Express bus service, shuttles, expanded public transit, and ridesharing programs, as well as a "Guaranteed Ride Home" for those who regularly use transit but find themselves in an emergency requiring immediate transport, will offer feasible commuting alternatives to those willing to leave their cars behind.

Of course, federal employees are not the only ones who use the roads around Fort Meade - ridesharing can and should be encouraged in the private sector as well. How many times have you left your office for a meeting, only to discover that four other people traveled to the same place at the same time? Identifying means of encouraging our area's private employers to incentivize decreased vehicle use is a tangential goal, but an important one.

What all these issues share is a need for leadership - at the local, state and federal level - to make the case for necessary resources, expedite processes as needed, and work with the private sector in a cooperative - not coercive - manner as opportunities present themselves to achieve common goals.

The federal BRAC investment on Fort Meade has already been made - estimated at over $1 billion - and BRAC is coming, whether or not we're prepared. Can we step up to the challenge?

Claire Lauder is the president and CEO of the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.