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Road and Metro projects related to the future Walter Reed military medical facility in Bethesda will likely not make it into a possible economic stimulus plan approved by President-elect Barack Obama, according to county and state officials.

The total federal package could range between $500 billion and $1 trillion. A large portion of the funds could go to state and local projects ready or almost ready to start construction.

In Bethesda, the main focus is on improvements to four intersections and the Medical Center Metro station near the current National Naval Medical Center. One county official said the concepts are not "shovel-ready," which typically means ready to begin construction within a few months.

"I've been told that the projects being considered for this stimulus are ready to go or nearly ready to go that will create jobs," said Phil Alperson, Montgomery County's Base Realignment and Closure coordinator. "The BRAC projects will probably not fit that tight time frame."

Construction for the intersections is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2010, while design options for the Metro entrance should be available from the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority early next year.

Jon Alterman, a representative of the Bethesda Parkview Citizens Association on the county BRAC committee, said the projects' possible lack of inclusion in a stimulus plan reflected the poor planning and lack of creative thinking by Maryland government and the Department of Defense.

"It's not like all these projects are on the board and are waiting for money. The state has not fully worked out what the impacts of this will be and how these impacts can be softened," he said. "Unless you have something to ask for, it's hard to get it."

Patrick Lacefield, a spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), said the county was putting together a list of projects the county would like to see funded through a stimulus plan, and that BRAC had not been definitively eliminated, in part because the details of any stimulus plan are still unclear.

"I certainly know that the BRAC stuff is in the mix on that," he said. "We're still putting that together."

The list could be complete by week's end, he said.

Maryland Transportation Secretary John Porcari announced Dec. 9 that it had $300 million in potential contracts that could be awarded in 30 to 120 days of receiving funding.

"The BRAC projects are still in the design phase, and they would not be in a position within 120 or 180 days to be shovel-ready. That's the bottom line," said Jack Cahalan, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation.

A Dec. 8 letter from Gov. Martin O'Malley to U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski about an economic recovery package mentioned BRAC infrastructure projects related to water and sewer systems in Aberdeen, but did not specifically mention BRAC projects in Bethesda. A $5 million resurfacing of Wisconsin Avenue has been mentioned as a possible project for a stimulus package, but it is unclear if this project would include the portion of Maryland Route 355 where Navy Med is located.

O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said last week the governor's office was drawing up a separate list of projects that dealt with BRAC mitigation in Maryland.

Both Alterman and Ilaya Hopkins of the East Bethesda Citizens Association emphasized the national importance of Walter Reed in caring for wounded members of the U.S. military.

"I think this is the perfect kind of project for an economic stimulus package, because it's not just a local project," Hopkins said.