This article describes the funding mechamisms by which the military paid for much of the Saddle Road realignment to suit their operational needs.
The original Army newsletter containing the article is found here: http://www.sddc.army.mil/EXTRACONTENT/Translog/2009%20TRANSLOG%20Fall%2009.pdf
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Defense access roads: Hawaii road shows program’s benefits to military and nation.
A recent ceremony in Mauna Kea State park, Hawaii, illustrated that Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command not only moves over the roads, but has a role in creating them as well.
Representatives from SDDC’s Transportation Engineering Agency joined officials from partner agencies in an Aug. 18 ceremony opening the latest 6.5 miles of the Saddle Road construction project. The project is administered by TEA as part of the Defense Access Road program.
Robert Korpanty, chief, Office of the Special Assistant for Transportation Engineering and Infrastructure, spoke on behalf of TEA at the ceremony. He said key partners involved in the project include the Federal Highway Administration, TEA, the Department of the Army at multiple levels, U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii, Pohakuloa Training Area, and the Hawaii Department of Transportation.
The DAR program is the method for DOD to pay for public highway improvements required because of sudden or unusual DOD-generated traffic impacts. The program is co-administered by TEA and the Federal Highway Administration for the Department of Transportation. Within DOD, this responsibility falls under SDDC’s core competency to ‘Provide Defense Transportation Engineering.’
TEA’s mission is to provide DOD with the research, engineering, and analytical expertise to improve the deployability of U.S. armed forces, the transportability of equipment, the infrastructure of the Defense Transportation System, and the management and execution of the DOD transportation programs for national defense.
Since its original incarnation more than 60 years ago, SDDC has worked with installations, FHWA and local highway authorities to address impacts resulting from sudden or unusual military actions. Discussions on the importance of Saddle Road to national defense began more than 20 years ago, and the road was certified under the DAR Program in June 1989.
“Since that time, DOD has been committed to seeing this project successfully executed through DAR Program in coordination with HI-DOT, FHWA and other local transportation officials,” Korpanty said. “Congressional members and their staffs have been key supporters of the project and integral in the complete funding of the project.”
“This is the third portion of the project, and completes 23 miles of road,” said David Gedeon, overall program manager for the project from the Central Federal Lands Highway Division of the FHWA.
Gedeon said the Aug. 18 ceremony marked the end of the original 15-mile Defense Access Road program project. Ground was broken on the project five years ago, with 23 miles built to date including portions that have been funded by the State of Hawaii.
County of Hawaii Mayor William Kenoi said each time another section of Saddle Road is completed, the Island of Hawaii benefits.
“Saddle Road links east Hawaii to west Hawaii so people can spend more time with their families,” Kenoi said.
Debra Zedalis, the director for Installation Management Command, Pacific, said a new Saddle Road is also a great benefit to the military in Hawaii.
“This is a great improvement, and we’ve had great support from the State of Hawaii. Of course, we get to benefit from that improvement. We’re glad to be partners. This is the spirit of aloha,” she said.
During his keynote speech at the ceremony, Senator Daniel Inouye said he insisted that a citizen advisory group task force comprised of representatives from all interested parties be set up, so any problems relevant to the construction of a new Saddle Road could be ironed out long before construction began.
On the east side of the island, 12 miles remain to be constructed using funds from the State of Hawaii. Eight of the 12 miles should be completed within the next 18 months. On the western end of Saddle Road, a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement will have to be completed in order to start work on the last 10-mile section, said Gedeon. Because the Army purchased additional land for training at PTA in 2006 that would be bisected by the route of the highway proposed in the original EIS in 1999, the SEIS will evaluate the impact of an alternate route, which the Army suggested, that will not affect training.
Inouye, a Medal of Honor recipient, said when he originally became a territorial representative for Hawaii 55 years ago, he thought something should be done to link the two sides of the Big Island, but at the time there wasn’t much local interest.
He said that once PTA became the most important training area for troops in the Pacific, and funds were available under the DAR program, he saw a chance to not only benefit the troops, but to join the east and west sides of Hawaii.
“Although SDDC is an Army command, the DAR program supports all branches of the military. By mitigating DOD-generated traffic impacts on public highways, the DAR program allows installations to meet their mission goals while improving daily traffic conditions, reducing congestion, increasing safety and decreasing travel times near military facilities,” said Darryl Hampton, the senior engineer in TEA’s DAR program office. “As the Army continues to grow and transform to meet future needs, the DAR program is a potential tool to meet transportation needs.”
Recent major DAR initiatives include projects associated with Army Base Realignment and Closure 2005 actions, the Grow the Army initiative and other DoD growth initiatives.
Since the BRAC announcement in 2005, yearly Military Construction appropriations have more than doubled for the DAR program, and additional requirements are expected to support the Grow the Force initiative, leading to even further increase.
The future requirements include potential projects at seven military facilities affected by BRAC and three facilities affected by GTF. As the DOD representative for the DAR program, TEA managed more than $371 million of DAR program projects over the past year at 11 military service locations throughout the country.
TEA has been working with Fort Belvoir, Va., HQDA, FHWA, and the Virginia Department of Transportation over the past three years to address the impact of relocating nearly 19,000 DOD personnel to the post. The DAR program is working with FHWA to construct $38M in new public highway access roads to DOD facilities at the Engineering Proving Ground there.
Over the past four years, TEA has been working with Army installations to identify any access road deficiencies that present mission critical needs on the public highway system to support the BRAC implementation. The DAR program has certified projects at four installations (Fort Belvoir, Fort Lee, Fort Bragg and Fort Carson). The projects will implement over $100M in projects to support the relocation associated with BRAC actions.
TEA is also providing support to Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps facilities as they implement BRAC and Grow the Force. The DAR program is integral in supporting the Minuteman Missile Program for the Air Force. The DAR program provides the mechanism for the maintenance of 1,700 miles of roadway that are used between the Air Force Bases and the silo sites for the 73-ton Transporter Erector vehicle.
By Donna Kiapak and Mike Petersen
SDDC Command Affairs
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