Sticking with the premise that Joint Base Lewis-McChord is "not a military island," Col. Charles Hodges talked Tuesday about the base's master plan of the future.
He emphasized that deciding that future is a cooperative effort, one that includes input from the base's surrounding cities.
"The plan that we're going to unveil today is our commitment to the future," said Hodges, the base commander. "What is the master plan? It is an idea where we can establish priorities and requirements to make sure that we are maintaining readiness and a good quality life on base."
While Hodges said the master plan will shape the base's future, there was no announcement of any specific housing, office or road projects. The plan is about how land is going to be used and how the base will look in the future.
"As you see we have a plan," Hodges said at the end of his 20-minute presentation to about 120 listeners. "The key element is that it's a living plan. It's not something we're locked into stone on. As money becomes available we have to be flexible to do it."
The master plan included the need for walkable neighborhoods, identifiable town centers and connecting streets. Its goal was to shows how JBLM residents will easily find food, gas, shopping, medical facilities and entertainment services within their neighborhood. Also housing and work areas will be easily accessed by walking, bicycling or driving.
JBLM will be divided into 18 "neighborhoods." Each neighborhood will have its own center and its own development plan.
However, Hodges said additional growth won't be easy. Future development can't reduce the training land or the air stripe on the 90,000-acre base. Recognizing this, the master plan uses higher density facilities that uses less land and builds up, not out. The plan calls for constructing three to five story buildings. Right now, a high-rise construction is being built along Pendleton Boulevard on Lewis Main.
This density land use concept is important because JBLM has doubled in population since 2001, growing from about 16,000 to a peak of 45,000.
In addition to density planning, the goal is to have every main street anchored by a green belt area where people can gather in their off duty hours. The goal is to develop every neighborhood around a center that is within walking distance, helping to relieve traffic congestion.
This plan will set the stage for a new JBLM for the next 50 years. It will be JBLM that will be almost unrecognizable to today's soldiers.
"Again we don't know what the future holds," Hodges said. "If people would have said 20 years ago that we'd now be a joint base and working together people would have thought you were crazy. If someone had told you 20 years ago that we would have spent the last 10 years in Afghanistan people would have told you you were crazy. Although we don't know what the future holds, we must have a plan nonetheless to try and predict that."
By doubling in size over the past decade, JBLM is now the seventh largest city in the state of Washington. The base is the state's second largest employer, trailing only Boeing. With more than 185,000 service members, families, civilians and retirees that either work, play or rely on JBLM for support, the base can't help but have a ripple effect on the surrounding cities.
"What JBLM is not is a military island standing alone by itself," Hodges said.
Speaking to councilmen from local cities who had input in the plan, Hodges said the JBLM master plan is a "living document" and is updated every five years. This updated version replaces the separate plans for Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base.
Transportation is one of the issues the JBLM master plan addresses. One on-base road project currently being done is widening the Transmission Line Road from two lanes to four lanes, helping to relieve congestion. It will be a connecting road between McChord and North Fort Lewis.
On Interstate-5, the Washington State Department of Transportation is adding an axillary lane between Thorn Lane and Berkley exits.
"That's probably the biggest backup that we create on the freeway," said Tom Tolman, an architect working on the JBLM master plan. "There are a lot of backups there. That's a concern. The Wash. DOT got money to fix that."
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