Officials on tour get a look at work that will increase the size of the base to nearly 15 million square feet and be home to Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine and Navy operations, schools and personnel.

While Fort Lee’s expansion proceeds, Tri-Cities authorities are appealing to state transportation officials for funding to meet the expected traffic increase in and around the base. Petersburg Mayor Annie M. Mickens made the case for the Tri-Cities region at a recent Commonwealth Transportation Board hearing. Fort Lee, she said, is scheduled to double its operations in the next two years as a result of the 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission plan.

Fort Lee’s growth in the next two years has the potential to bring economic and population growth to Richmond and other localities outside the Tri-Cities, a Fort Lee official told a small group of war veterans and Richmond-area residents last night. The 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission plan is expected to bring nearly 15,000 new residents to the Tri-Cities and surrounding communities by 2011.

The U.S. Army’s expansion of Fort Lee is helping Virginia weather the financial storms. “The entire economy of Southside Virginia rests on the back of Fort Lee,“ said James McNeer, a former Colonial Heights mayor and president of Richard Bland College near Petersburg. In less than three years, Fort Lee will double its population and facilities.

Dinwiddie County School Superintendent Charles Maranzano Jr. has asked the state to spare six school systems affected by Fort Lee’s expansion from budget cuts.