McNair Road extension to be closed during construction

This picnic area behind the Old Post Chapel is being annexed by Arlington National Cemetery. For the next six months, McNair Road will be closed from Lee Avenue to Marshall Drive so that drainage pipes can be laid.

Summer has started off with an average of one massive storm per week, which comes just as Fort Myer receives upgraded facilities to deal with large amounts of storm water.

Starting July 7, there will be another construction project taking place on Fort Myer. The section of McNair Road between the Old Post Chapel and Marshall Drive will be closed as 12.5 acres of Fort Myer will become part of Arlington National Cemetery.

McNair Road and the jogging path that runs parallel to it will be closed due to the presence of heavy equipment.

Fort Myer employees that enter the post through Wright Gate will not be able to use Lee Avenue as a detour, but New Gorgas Road will be open, which connects Sheridan Avenue to McNair Road.

Before the cemetery takes ownership of the picnic area and surrounding areas, a Stormwater Diversion Interceptor project will be built, which will prevent the collection of storm runoff in the new section.

Most of the work will be done during normal working hours. There will be some work done at night, in order to avoid disturbing the normal activities of Fort Myer.

‘‘The majority of our work will be done ... at certain times to limit the impact on the community,” said Andy Off, Fort Myer’s Army Corps of Engineers resident engineer.

‘‘The contractors will not be using their heavy machinery during any of the ceremonies that take place at the [Old Post] chapel,” said Greg Post of the Directorate of Public Works. ‘‘They know that we can’t have loud noises during the services that take place there.”

McNair Road will have to be closed as a mile and a half of storm drains are put underneath it, which will help to collect the runoff of heavy rains, and then divert them to a retention pond.

The new, one-million-gallon retention pond will be 200 feet long by 40 feet wide. It will be at the base of Whipple Field, and will temporarily hold storm water during heavy storms. There will also be a curb and gutter system running alongside McNair Road as well a new jogging path. The project is estimated to cost $6.5 million.

There are plans for a rock wall to be built alongside McNair Road in the future, which will allow it to remain consistent with the other sections of the Fort Myer⁄Arlington National Cemetery border.